African Arts Gallery

Anthropomorphic scepter whose subject refers to the ancestors and in particular to a deified figure of an elderly woman. The latter appears in the form of the Makishi wa kasuinakaji mask. ( p.064 "Chokwe and their bantu Neighbours"). Shiny abraded patina. Minor cracks.
Originally Lunda, the Lwena emigrated from Angola to Zaire in the 19th century, pushed back by the Chokwe. When some became slave traders, other groups found refuge in Zambia, forming the Luvale, Lovale. Their society is matrilineal, exogamous and polygamous. The Lwena and the Luvale became known for their sculptures embodying figures of ancestors and deceased chiefs, and their masks linked to the initiation rites of the mukanda, a secret male association shared by all these groups in the same territory, with some variations however. Their sculpture was largely influenced by that of the Chokwe.