African art > African statues : tribal fetish, maternity > Hemba Statuette

Hemba Statuette (N° 24152) Deposit sale

This African art hemba sculpture is coated with a glossy black patina. With a squat morphology, in a frontal posture and the hands placed classically around the umbilicus, the subject adopts the features associated with Hemba statuary, eyes half-closed, a vase on the head. Minor losses and cracks.

Usually made in iroko, these sculptures associated with various rituals were venerated by a particular clan and stored in rooms for funerary use in the chief's house.
The Hemba, established in the south-east of Zaire, on the right bank of the Lualaba, were for a long time subjected to the neighboring Luba empire, which had on their culture, their religion and their art a certain influence. Ancestor worship, whose effigies have long been attributed to the Luba, is central to Hemba society. Genealogy is indeed the guarantor of privileges and the distribution of land. All aspects of the community are imbued with the authority of the ancestors. Thus, these are considered to have an influence on justice, medicine, law and sacrifices. The singiti statues were kept by the fumu mwalo and honored during ceremonies during which sacrifices were offered to them. (Source: "Treasures of Africa, Tervuren Museum; "Black African Tribal Art" J.B. Bacquart; "Congo River", F.Neyt)  

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OriginCollection française
EthnyHemba
Countryrdc ex zaire
Material(s)wood
Height cm30
Width7 cm
Weight0.49 Kg

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