Beautiful Mboko Female Figure - heavy and dense hardwood of the Vitex madiensis tree - Luba Hemba - D.R.C.

Beautiful Mboko Female Figure – Luba Hemba – D. R. C. In good condition, but with a thick patina layer from long and intensive use. A truly old item. It dates back to 1930/1940. Provenance: Ex –collection of Marc Huybrechts, greater Brussels. Collected by his father Hubert in the area before 1960. Obtained from his son in 1987. This fine old item represents a young, strong woman sitting on her behind, holding a pot in front of her on her outstretched legs. This makes it a classical Mboko figure, an object used by diviners in their act to help clients find out what the origin of their problem may be. Such figures stood next to a diviner and in fact depicts the wife of the spirit that guides him in his efforts. For this, he makes contact with the spirits of the other world and receives their advice. In the pot hold by the lady, there is sacred white clay the diviner uses to smear over his eyes and temples to facilitate him to go into a trance and become clairvoyant. The object has a encrusted patina and fine anatomical details convincingly carved by a great artist. The hairdo is of the Kaposhi cross-shaped variety. Literature: Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts: Memory, Luba Art and the Making of History. New York ,1996, pp. 176 ff. Dimensions: 50 x 20 x 26 cm. People / Region : The Luba Hemba live to the northeast of the main block of Katanga Luba in the S. E. D. R. C. Material : heavy and dense hardwood of the Vitex madiensis tree. Weight: 4 kg. Sold with handwritten declaration of authenticity by Dr. P. Westerdijk, museum ethnologist and cultural anthropologist specialized, for over 50 years now, in the study of the material cultures in African nations that live south of the Sahara.