Songye statuette - Songye - DR Congo

The Songye are settled on the left bank of the Lualaba River, on a plateau covered with savanna and forest.
The Songye have created impressive statues often covered with numerous accessories and with masks bearing powerful features called kifwebe.
The Songye fetish statues:
Bands of metal, nails and other accessories are sometimes applied to the face to ward off malignant and aggressive forces and to direct lightning toward them.
Moreover, the top of the head and the abdomen are often hollowed out in order to contain magnificent substances or horns called Bishimba; a specialist, Nganga, is responsible for attaching magical objects to the statue such as snake skins, feathers, beads, metal and bracelets with the aim of strengthening its power.
NB: there was a break in the plateau as well as the desiccation of the wood visible in the photo
NB: Our parcels are shipped with warranty, insurance and receipt