Divination Bust, Hemba People, D.r.c.
Statue featuring a female bust on a wrought-iron stake. It features a face with idealized features and a characteristic cylindrical headdress. A cavity at the top must have contained a magic charge, which has been removed. The arms are slightly detached from the body and the hands are placed above a well-defined sex. The torso and hips are surrounded by an ancient textile bundle of woven raffia. Like the summit, it corresponds to a ritual charge, suggesting active use in ancestral divination or intercession practices. Its attachment to the metal stake confirms its operative function. The object was intended to be planted during ritual consultations.
Wood with wear patina, vegetable fibers and rope, iron
Height: 36 cm
Hemba people, Kamina, Katanga, D.R.C.
Late 19th or early 20th century.
Wood with wear patina, vegetable fibers and rope, iron
Height: 36 cm
Hemba people, Kamina, Katanga, D.R.C.
Late 19th or early 20th century.
Provenance: - collected in-situ by a former Belgian settler: AugustinBecquet (1899-1974). He was an agricultural engineer, Director of INEACINEAC and mining engineer at U.M.H.K. (Union minière du HautKatanga). In 1921 he was sent to the Belgian Congo.
-Ex Belgian collection
700 €
Period: 19th century
Style: Tribal Art
Condition: Condition of use
Material: Solid wood
Height: 36 cm
Reference (ID): 1738083
Availability: In stock
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