A stylised Lihamba figure, Songo Angola.

Around 1900, wood, 43 cm high. The artist uses simpel, sober forms to suggest a beautiful matured mother. The figure represents an ancestral spirit of Lihamba. When treated with respect, they promote health and prosperity, but when left unattended they can turn and create havoc. (VJ)

Provenance:
Collection Udo Horstmann, Switzerland.

Published:
'Chokwe: Art and Initiation among Chokwe and Related Peoples', 1998; 'The Power of Form: African Art from the Horstmann Collection', 2002, by Ezio Bassani.

Exhibited:
Birmingham Museum 1999; Baltimore Museum 1999; Minneapolis Museum; Qintela Rui, Lisbon.