Figure, Luba/Hemba; D.R.C. Congo
Wood, rattan, beads; H. 11 1/2"
Luba seated females presenting a bowl
are known as mboko or kabila. A number
of functions are ascribed to such figures: they
are mentioned in the literature as being placed
outside the hut of a woman about to give birth and
are associated with divination. The fee paid to
a diviner was placed in the mboko at night
before a consultation. The diviner then slept with
the mboko at his head so that his dreams
might bring messages from the spirits. The figure
is said to represent the wife of the diviner's possessing
spirit and have both oracular and curative powers.
Yet the mboko also appears as a royal item
or belongs to lesser chiefs who have inherited these
dignities upon their accession to power. The principal
substance held within each bowl is pemba,
a white clay for ritual use. Many examples include
a bowl lid carved with a human head or figure. Early
in the twentieth century mboko were carved
at the Mwanza Protestant mission, where elaboration
and enlargement marked a departure from traditional
forms as the demand for images made for export increased.
The scale and composition of this example are particularly
appealing. The stylistic attributes would point
to an eastern origin, possibly even northeastern,
among the Hemba bordering the Luba, as evidenced
by the form of the face and the shape and style
of the coiffure. Of particular note are the raised
scarifications on this figure, which upon closer
examination may be seen to be pieces of rattan that
have been formed into "staples" and inserted
into the wooden body. There is another example displaying
this unusual treatment in the Berlin Museum; collected
by Müller in 1903. The Berlin example, a female
caryatid stool, executed in the same manner and
almost certainly made by the same carver or workshop,
displays not only the rather unusual inserted scarifications
but also nearly identical treatment of the facial
features and volumes of the body. These similarities
establish a clear and early date of manufacture
for the bowl bearer and reinforces the belief that
the aged, oily surface and wear come from years
of use by the Luba in a traditional context and
not from the later workshops established at Mwanza
and in time elsewhere.
