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To the east of the Luba live the Hemba, an ethnic group that was later recognized as being in its own right and with its own artistic corpus. The tribal art of the Hemba is imbued with prestige through pieces sometimes of large dimensions depicting ancestors generically called Singiti. The typologies vary according to the regions and workshops. There are some constants marked throughout the various pieces of this type however. A headdress pulled back with a brace, the standing position, the dignified face, the precision of the sculptural gesture and the finesse of the details.
This old piece with some lacks due to time has remarkable attributes: regalia are worn in the hands, symbol of royalty. Note also the presence of a small mask type soko mutu pendant carved at the neck. The ancestor presented here was undeniably a high dignitary of Hemba society.
Data sheet
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