LENGOLA STYLE
FIGURE 1
76.5" high x 21"' wide x 6" deep
$2000
SOLD
DRC
Despite its appearance, this figure shows no signs of age or use and was probably made to be sold.
There is an old stable crack on the front that shows near the neck and another lower (seen in the detail below). The small feet have wood loss, first (as seen below) from the front, then from both sides. This male figure probably once had a separate attached genital piece, which is missing.
These figures, called ubanga nyama represent Suway, an ancestral founder of the Lengola. One such figure would have been exhibited in the center of the village, after the burial of the high-ranking mungamba dignitary, to allow men to make invocations. (from African Arts, January 1977, page 54.)
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