Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

Prestige headrest featuring a dark, smooth, glossy patina. Minor chips.

The Hemba, settled in the southeast of Zaire, on the right bank of the Lualaba, have long been subjected to the neighboring Luba empire, which exerted a definite influence on their culture, their religion, and their art. The cult of the ancestors, whose effigies were long 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 permeated by the authority of the ancestors. Thus, they are believed to influence 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.