Standing male figure "mukuya", before 1905 ·  R. D. Congo, Bembe · ID: 3041476

Description

wood, middle brown patina, black paint, eyes with white porcweelain inlay, characteristic elongated trunk, richly adorned with skin scarifications in relief, holding a rifle and a knife in his hands, opening (crypto fetish), min. dam., fine cracks, slight traces of abrasion;
the opening on the back was used by the “nganga” to give vital force to the figure, afterwards it was filled with magical material: “bilongo” (medicine) or relics of an ancestor as a symbol of the power and spirit of the deceased relative. Afterwards the opening was closed by a piece of fabric or a plug. As long as the spirit stayed within the statue, it watched over his descendants and punished contempts against customs and rules.

Littérature comparée

Lehuard, Raoul & Alain Lecomte, Sculpture Babembe, Paris 2010, p. 149