Statue Kabila O Mendicante

The bearers of a cup or a “loose woman’s statues” usually correspond to the well-known style of Buli, the master craftsman who made these prostrate women famous, with elongated faces and rounded shapes that are presented with a container in their hands and in an imploring attitude. They are called “mendicants” because placed in front of a pregnant woman’s house they received the obols of the interns.

These figures are also called “Kabilas” or “Mbokos” and appear to be used in magical, divinatory and healing rites. The healers kept their therapeutic ingredients in the cups. The cupbearer or Mboko, kneeling, has a cup in her hands. Some may stand. In divinatory sessions, the fortune teller sets up his oracle by shaking the cup and analyzing the position of the objects deposited in it. Each Luba family has an Mboko. The stretch marks of the crown bearer represent the rivers of Congo.

The woman is the main subject of the Luba statuery as, according to her myths, Vilye was the first female spirit, founder of the clan and guarantor of lineage and fertility. Women were, at first, the guardians of worship and royal wives played a fundamental role. They were in charge of establishing contracts with the heads of neighbouring ethnic groups and concluded fruitful political alliances through marriages. There were more women mediums than men. Important fortune tellers were called “kilumbu”.

Although traditionally attributed to the Luba the Buli master was Hemba. These figures do not try to idealize the beauty of the woman but present her as a woman of a certain age in a humble attitude.

Heavy wood and reddish. Patina of time.