Janus figure "kabeja" ·  R. D. Congo, Hemba · ID: 3032228

Description

wood, encrusted brown patina, male/female, arranged back-to-back, round deepening with magical mass on the head, min. dam., traces of insect caused damage, fissures, on base;
“kabeja” figures are seen as visual icon of the primordial couple, the founders of the society. They are owned by the clan head known as the “fumu mwela”.

Littérature comparée

Neyt, Francois, Approche des Arts Hemba, Villiers-le-Bel 1975, p. 39