African Arts Gallery

Ceremonial club-scepter whose shaft bears a pattern sculpted in the image of the "phumbu" chief's mask. The club is dug with a cavity. Orange wood, satin finish, coated with a partially abraded black patina.
Desication cracks.
Height on base: 50 cm.
The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Eastern settled on the banks of the Kasaï downstream from Tshikapa. The influences of neighboring ethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba and Salempasu imprinted on their large tribal art sculpture. Within this diversity, the Mbuya masks, realistic, produced every ten years, take on a festive function, and embody different characters, including the chief, the diviner and his wife, the prostitute, the possessed, etc... The masks of initiation and those of power, the minganji, represent the ancestors and occur successively during the same ceremonies, agricultural festivals, initiation and circumcision rituals mukanda, enthronement of the chief. Source: Kerchache, "African Art".