Royal Statue Ndop

Some statues of kings Kuba represent King Kata Mbula, who reigned of the year 1.800 as at 1.810They get the name of a royal statue Ndop. They were receptacles of sacred power, for when the monarch felt that his death was approaching, he locked himself with his statue so that it would receive its last breath. These statuettes were transmitted from king to king in order to perpetuate the vital principle transmitted by the first primordial ancestor king. Some of the oldest statues go back to the century XVIII, though since the century XVI Kuba genealogy counts one hundred twenty-four sovereigns.

Kuba art is considered a cutting art and the artist enjoyed a special privilege in the environment of the royal family and aristocracy. The main symbol of power of the Kuba kings is the anvil, for in it the weapons that will serve to defend royalty are forged. It appears in front of some statues dodop. In other cases the monarch of the statue is identified by his totemic animal represented in it.

These statues exercise a protective power, especially during childbirth.

Brown patina.