Figure féminine debout "kaponya" ·  Angola, Tchokwé · ID: 3048256

Description

wood, rest.

According to Bastin, the term “kaponya” (pl. “tuponya”) is the generic name for a figurative sculpture. In order to become a “hamba” (pl. “mahamba”), a figure has to be consecrated by a ritual specialist or healer “mbuki”.

The term “hamba” in its primary interpretation refers to ancestor and nature spirits, sometimes called tutelary spirits, that mediate between God (“kalunga” or “nzambi”) and man.