Tribal Art

In African art, a panel of objects, the regalia, made up of headdresses, seats, weapons, crowns, scepters, cups and drinking horns, belong to the chiefs. They magnify and reinforce their authority. An emblem of power and prestige, this fly swatter is sculpted with a figure of a singiti ancestor.
Satin brown patina.
The Hemba, established in the south-east of Zaire, on the right bank of the Lualaba, have long been subject to the neighboring Luba empire which had a certain influence on their culture. The cult of ancestors, whose effigies have long been attributed to the Luba, is central in Hemba society. The singiti statues were preserved by the fumu mwalo and honored during ceremonies during which sacrifices were offered to them. Alongside the authority of hereditary ...

A prestigious object, this fly swatter features a finely chiseled "yiteke" miniature acting as a talisman. The figure is extended by a handle on which a cord is tied, attaching the horsehair and the fur constituting the whip. Glossy brown patina.

Hierarchical and authoritarian, made up of formidable warriors, Yaka society was governed by lineage leaders with the right to life and death over their subjects. Hunting and the prestige that results from it are the occasion nowadays, for the Yaka, to invoke the ancestors and to resort to rituals using charms. The society of initiation of young people is the n-khanda, found among the eastern Kongo (Chokwe, Luba, etc.), and which uses various charms and masks in order to ensure a vigorous lineage. The artistic productions of the ...