Figure - Kakudji - Luba - DR Congo

Figure kakudji Luba - Kusu
Wood, upholstery nails, trade beads, bone, horn, skin (bijimba - magical material)
Weight: 1040 g
Height: 33.5 cm
Beginning of the 20th century.
Provenance: Lot no. 328 from the 91st tribal art sale, 2019, at Zemanek-Münster Auction.

The Kakudji fetishes exist in several ethnic groups, such as the Luba and the Kusu, which makes precise identification difficult. According to Marc Léo Félix, these statuettes, actually called munsinju, are placed on an iron pick or kept in a basket by the fetishists (banganga). The size of this Kakudji figure, which leaves no doubt, belongs to the first category mentioned by Marc Léo Félix and was therefore fixed on a metal stake in the ground.
The upper part of the figurine has kept its 'bijimba' in its headdress, and the fetish material is still present there.

It is quite similar to Pierre Dartevelle's Kusu figure, which was sold on June 8, 2022 at Sotheby's. (lot 13) (see the last two photographs)
Sold with pedestal (4th photograph)

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