Luba Mboko figure of the Buli master
€740.00
Luba kingdom masterpiece
This superb African statue was sculpted in the so-called "master(s) of Buli" style, one of the most famous in the diversity of the Luba artistic corpus.
This is both a figure carrying an "mboko" cup as well as a representation of an ancestor, in all likelihood the primordial ancestor, founder of the kingdom.
The workshop of the Master of Buli and the workshops along the Lukuga
The work of the Dapper museum dedicated to Luba art tells us :
"If the carriers of cups could be used for divination for individual uses, they must above all be considered in the 17th and 19th centuries as symbols of sacred authority.
From the Buli workshop, we keep two cup carriers. These are major works.
One of them, at least, was carved by the Master of Buli, Ngongo Ya Chintu.
One can legitimately think that the artist worked for Luba families of royal blood.
We immediately think of Prince Buki whom his father, the Luba king, had relegated near Kabalo, to the steps of his kingdom.
The two sculptures stand out from the production of the other Lukuga workshops and testify to the sovereign freedom of the sculptor. The first cup bearer (opposite), a famous work in the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, is in a kneeling position. "The elongated and emaciated facies seemed to many of a dramatic intensity", writes A. Maesen. It was collected by H. Bure in 1905.
The second, all in curves, presents a female figurine gathered up on herself, completely concentrated on the receptacle of spirits and vidye genies that she squeezes in the broad palms of her hands. It was harvested in 1895, during the Miot expedition."
Some old D.R. Congo banknotes feature a cup-bearing statue of the Buli masters, see illustration attached.
02289
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Mid XXth century
- Size
- 50 cm (53 cm with support)
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Stand
- Included
- Condition
- Excellent
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Luba kingdom masterpiece
This superb African statue was sculpted in the so-called "master(s) of Buli" style, one of the most famous in the diversity of the Luba artistic corpus.
This is both a figure carrying an "mboko" cup as well as a representation of an ancestor, in all likelihood the primordial ancestor, founder of the kingdom.
The workshop of the Master of Buli and the workshops along the Lukuga
The work of the Dapper museum dedicated to Luba art tells us :
"If the carriers of cups could be used for divination for individual uses, they must above all be considered in the 17th and 19th centuries as symbols of sacred authority.
From the Buli workshop, we keep two cup carriers. These are major works.
One of them, at least, was carved by the Master of Buli, Ngongo Ya Chintu.
One can legitimately think that the artist worked for Luba families of royal blood.
We immediately think of Prince Buki whom his father, the Luba king, had relegated near Kabalo, to the steps of his kingdom.
The two sculptures stand out from the production of the other Lukuga workshops and testify to the sovereign freedom of the sculptor. The first cup bearer (opposite), a famous work in the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, is in a kneeling position. "The elongated and emaciated facies seemed to many of a dramatic intensity", writes A. Maesen. It was collected by H. Bure in 1905.
The second, all in curves, presents a female figurine gathered up on herself, completely concentrated on the receptacle of spirits and vidye genies that she squeezes in the broad palms of her hands. It was harvested in 1895, during the Miot expedition."
Some old D.R. Congo banknotes feature a cup-bearing statue of the Buli masters, see illustration attached.