Tribal Art

The Yaka surround each other in daily life with regalia decorated with carved figures, such as this statue forming a container intended to contain kaolin for the investiture of the chiefs. Its use was diverted, traces of shea by lining the internal walls. The head, which would appear the mediating soothsayer with a high cap, has coffee bean eyes deeply surrounded. Hollowed sex is clearly associated with circumcision.
Beautiful glossy, sainy patina.
With the Yaka, at the new moon, the soothsayer ngaanga ngoombu covers his face with kaolin before issuing an oracle. During its daytime passage into the basement, the moon is coated with this white clay. The night would convey the virtues of life.
The Yaka society is extremely hierarchical and authoritarian. The head of lineage has indeed the right to life and death on his subjects. As is often the case, the artistic current of the ethnic group was influenced by neighbouring populations. For the Yaka, the influence came mainly from the Suku and Kongo ethnic groups.
Ref.: "Yaka" A.P. Bourgeois (ed. 5Continents)