African Arts Gallery

Among the Luba and the Kalundwe of the west of the Luba country, many esoteric societies make use of sculpted objects, mukisi ya kuhakwa such as this statuette or even the kakudji fetish sculptures. Squatting posture and specific gestures of the hands on the shoulders for this female figure whose hairstyle in multiple buns is typical of the Kalundwe.
Burgundy brown oiled patina. Tiny chips.
The mediums of the Kilumbu, Bilumbu divination society, or by the healers of the Buhabo society. The Mbudye seers and the women kashekesheke seers also used it. It was a question, individually or collectively, of consulting the spirits of the ancestors through specialists. The female figurative subjects would represent the wife of the diviner, hence its importance in the bilumbu divination process. According to some Lubas, however, although a woman, she would represent the first Luba diviner, and would also be an allegory of royalty linked to the powerful Mbudye society associated with royal power. ("Luba" Roberts.)