Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

Nape, headrest >

Hemba neck-rest

Hemba headrest



An old prestigious headrest with a dark patina. Holes on the plateau have had their nails removed. 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 has had a definite influence on their culture, their religion and their art. Ancestor worship, whose effigies were long attributed to the Luba, is central in Hemba society. Genealogy is indeed the guarantor of privileges and the distribution of land. All aspects of the community are imbued with the authority of the ancestors. Thus, they are regarded as having influence on justice,