Tribal Art

The Mangbetu statues probably represent ancestors of the clan. They display incisions in connection with the body paintings and the scarifications of the group, comparable to those of the Asua pygmies with whom the tribe maintained relations. These reasons varied according to the circumstances. The fan hairstyle was worn by the Mangbetu: from an early age, children suffered compression of the cranial box by means of raffia ties. Later, the Mangbetu would "knit" their hair on wicker strands and apply a headband to the forehead in order to extract the hair and produce that particular headdress which accentuates the elongation of the head. The ancients call these figures of ancestors stored out of sight and comparable to those belonging to their secret society nebeli beli.
Shiny dark brown patina.