African Arts Gallery

Teke Drum (N° 17160)

This figurative slot drum incorporates the characters of the buti sculptures embodying the ancestors of the clan or those of statues for individual use. The resonant case is sheathed with animal skin fixed by thin brass heads. The stick, connected to the instrument by a string, offers a delicately carved tip of a similar head.
Black brown satin and mahogany satin.
Andeblis between the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Gabon, the Téké were organized into chiefdoms whose leader was often chosen from among the blacksmiths. The head of the family, mfumu , had the right to life or death over his family whose importance determined his prestige. The clan leader, gantsié , kept the great protective fetish tr hated who oversaw all the ceremonies. It was the mighty sorcerer and soothsayer who charged magical elements, for payment, individual statuettes. It was also according to his instructions that worship was given to the ancestors. The statues without magic charge were named nkiba , the janiform statues embodying pwaw . The statuettes, named mutinu bmmba , matomba or butti , were given an apotropic function or ensured the proper course of delivery. The bilongo were sometimes extracted from the objects, leaving them exhausted, and incorporated into new sculptures to be sold to other families.
Ref.: Congo River F. Neyt; The Tribal Art of Black Africa Ed. Assouline