Tribal Art

French African art collection.
The Kongos (also known as Bakongos, which is the plural of N'Kongo in kikongo, live on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Black Point Africa, (Republic of Congo) as far south as Luanda (Angola) and as far south as Bandundu province (Democratic Republic of Congo). Superbly crafted, the Kongo Command sceptres were, among the jewels, weapons, recades and statuary, the reg regale indispensable to their status and the power of their reign. The ornaments, pictograms and effigies carved on the sticks evoked proverbs, illustrated the qualities of a chief, told, from section to section, the history of the tribe and emphasized the qualities required to rule. Objects belonging to the royal entourage also benefited from the same coded iconography. This emblem of royal power, whose lower end is sheathed with hammered metal, is topped with an angular head with a round-bump figure. This one depicts a rider on his mount, equipped with a machete and a shield where, like the fetishes of the clan nkisis , magic ingredients have been slipped under the glass that closes a small cavity. The eyes are also glazed, alluding to the qualities of foresight required to reign.
Patine golden brown and black.
Total top on a pedestal: 66 cm.