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- Figure
- Researchers in the field in Ghana and Upper Volta have reported two important functions for the wooden figures carved by the Lobi. Goody (1962:224.226) and Rattray (1932 II :434, figs.110,111) describe figures called sa da or kpiin da...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Oracle
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Figure
- The magical figures (nkisi, plural minkisi, referred to as ³fetishes² in older literature) produced throughout the lower reaches of the Zaire River are imbued with power by the addition of a combination of ingredients in receptacles in the...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- The Pende live between the Kasai River in the east and the Kwilu River in the west. They immigrated into the area they now inhabit from the Atlantic coast of Angola at the end of the 18th century. They are politically non-centralized, with the...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Female Figure With Bowl
- Several functions have been attributed to figures of this type. Van Geluwe (quoted in Fagg 1971 14) states that they are ³sacred symbols of the authority and power vested in the chief. The figure is said to represent a vidye or protective spirit;...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Oracle
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- Small wooden masks (mbuya) were traditionally worn by young boys to celebrate their graduation from mukanda circumcision camps, where they received training in the history of the group and in their responsibilities as adult members of society....
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Pestle
- This small pestle, presumably used for crushing food, has a heavily-worn, glossy surface which is the result of years of continuous use. The features of the female face appear summarily treated when compared to the more elaborately carved...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Figure
- This magnificent figure is a template for Luba body arts, and demonstrates the degree to which perfection of the body was a significant communicative social process for Luba people in late precolonial and early colonial times. The coiffure, for...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Figure
- Since these beautiful figures were first published in the 1979 catalogue of the Stanley Collection, important research has been carried out among the Lobi by Piet Meyer, representing the Museum Rietberg Zurich, and published in 1981 in an...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- Because the eastern Pende are politically decentralized, masks from the area frequently serve as agents of social control, as well as in their better-known functions in the mukanda initiation camp. Helmet masks of this type, called phumbu wa...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- The German folklorist Leo Frobenius, who visited southeastern Zaire in 1906-7, provided the earliest description of the use and function of Songye masks based on observations of their traditionalcontext. His notes (published by Ernst Vatter...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- Among the Western Pende along the Kwango River in Central Zaire masks are worn to celebrate the graduation of young men from the mukanda initiation camps, where they are taught the skills needed for survival and the responsibilities of adult men in...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- The hemispherical masks carved by the Luba are among the largest face masks produced in Africa. The mask itself provides no clue to the method by which it was attached to the wearer's face. Early researchers supply some evidence of the functions...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Divination Tray
- Trays like this one are used by the babalawo "father of secrets", the priest of Ifa divination. The priest begins the divination process by placing the tray on a cloth on the ground and covering it with wood dust or flour. He then shakes sixteen...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Pendant
- #14 Kwango/ Kwilu Rivers Basin The Pende carve small reproductions in ivory of several of their common mask types. These ikhoko are worn around the neck as pendants by those who are responsible for guarding masks from theft and destruction, and...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Mask
- The eastern Pende in the region of the Kasai River produce wooden masks which are considerably less naturalistic than the well-known mbuya masks (cf. CMS no.207) used by the western Pende. Masks are decorated with geometric shapes, especially...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection
- Cup
- Wooden cups are used by a number of groups in the central Savannah area of Zaire for drinking a fermented liquid tapped from the palm Raphia vinifera. Cups carved in human or animal shapes and decorated with intricate geometric patterns are...
- University of Iowa Museum of Art Digital Collection