African Arts Gallery

This African sculpture was a tool of communication with ancestors, used by the soothsayer during divination rituals. Incorporating the category of objects nkisi , nkishi , it is supposed to be endowed with a secret power, receptacle of a spiritual energy. The Luba, like their neighbors, use this type of objects related to the divination kashekesheke named katatora and lubuko. According to François Neyt, the object was carved from wood (kibekwasa ) with magical properties.
When the interview, the ring was caught by the soothsayer and his client, who dragging it over a mat or headrest in response to questions (producing the sound "kashekesheke", "extraction of truth"). Considered feminine, the object is a symbol, for the Luba, of the spiritual power available to the woman, represented here with a perforated headdress in a bun and a magical charge emerging from the top. Satin patina and thinned by gripping.
.
The Luba, or Baluba in Tchiluba, are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is the Katanga, specifically the region of the Lubu River, so the name (Baluba, which means \