Hemba Luba headrest
Usual objects and African art
Ethnologists and experts in African art have long considered the Luba and Hemba to be part of the same artistic corpus. It was only late that we realized that the sculptural traditions of the two ethnic groups could be formally distinguished.
The Luba kingdom being a major force in the Congo both from a cultural and demographic point of view, the Hemba corpus did not stand out until the second half of the twentieth century, then experiencing unprecedented success with Westerners. The Hemba share with the Luba a cultural tradition and stylistic characteristics including the effigies of ancestors called singiti among the Hemba (see photo attached to the man with the statues), neckrests and objects of divination for example.
Here I offer you a small caryatid neckrest in the form of two figures looking in opposite directions, a man and a woman. This type of object, in addition to participating in the prestige of its owner who liked to exhibit it in public, was used to lay the head on it to sleep while preserving the complex headdresses worn by individuals Hemba and Luba as seen for example. one in attached photo.
01494
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Circa 1960
- Size
- 16 cm
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Origin
- Tribal Art Collection Germany
- Condition
- Excellent
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Usual objects and African art
Ethnologists and experts in African art have long considered the Luba and Hemba to be part of the same artistic corpus. It was only late that we realized that the sculptural traditions of the two ethnic groups could be formally distinguished.
The Luba kingdom being a major force in the Congo both from a cultural and demographic point of view, the Hemba corpus did not stand out until the second half of the twentieth century, then experiencing unprecedented success with Westerners. The Hemba share with the Luba a cultural tradition and stylistic characteristics including the effigies of ancestors called singiti among the Hemba (see photo attached to the man with the statues), neckrests and objects of divination for example.
Here I offer you a small caryatid neckrest in the form of two figures looking in opposite directions, a man and a woman. This type of object, in addition to participating in the prestige of its owner who liked to exhibit it in public, was used to lay the head on it to sleep while preserving the complex headdresses worn by individuals Hemba and Luba as seen for example. one in attached photo.