Figure masculine debout ·  R. D. Congo, Basikasingo · ID: 3042012

Description

wood, brown patina, of closed contour, dam., traces of insect caused damage, missing parts (foot tips), cracks, slight traces of abrasion;
the Basikasingo have rites for ancestors, who have the power to cause disease and misfortune. If a mischief happened, people tried to experience the wishes of the ancestors by interpreting dreams and by sooth saying. They were kept in small shrines under the authority and guardianship of a petty chief, village headman or dominant lineage elder. Sometimes such figures were individually identified ancestors, called “bashumbu”.

Littérature comparée

Biebuyck, Daniel P., Statuary from the pre-Bembe hunters, Tervuren 1981, p. 33, ill. 17

Publications

AHDRC: 0139853