Monday, March 29, 2010

Lega


15.5cm x 5.3cm


Iginga figures are individually owned by the highest ranking society members, are the most coveted of all initiation objects. Some anthropomorphic figures are called kalimbangoma. Each member of Musagi wa Kindi, a sublevel of the highest Bwami rank, owns a bone or ivory human kalimbangoma figure as a sign of his status.

References: Art of the Lega
Friction oracle: Croc-headed animal (Itombwa), Kuba peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo
30cm long x 6cm tall (to top of figure)
wood, plant fiber, pigment
mid 20th century



"Regarded as infallible divinatory instruments, friction oracles (itombwa) were used to mediate between diviners
and omniscient nature spirits in order to determine the cause of illnesses and appropriate courses of treatment and to expose dishonesty. They performed this role in the guise of an animal form, favored by nature spirits, designed to register their insights in response to human manipulation." - Metropolitan Museum of Art