Magic sculpture Nzambi Holo
The art of the Holo
Exceptional and rare Nzambi Holo magic sculpture from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Holo hut is characteristic. Built on a square plan, its thatched roof is conical and descends to the ground. The general appearance is beehive-like, with a wooden doorway often decorated with relief carvings of turtles, lizards or snakes. Above the doorway stretches a carefully woven and sometimes sloping wickerwork spandrel.
This is important because inside the Holo huts there are emblems called Nzambi, for whom the god is specific. These panels linked to the Nzambi cult are real good luck charms for the Holo people. They are represented by male or female figures, more rarely by two figures, sculpted with their arms levitating in the centre of a frame. Maesen writes: ''It is the image of Christ on the cross brought by the first missionaries that is at the origin of the conception of this sculpture, the result of acculturation and religious syncretism.
01755
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Mid XXth century
- Size
- 25 cm
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Origin
- François C. Bazelaire, painter and sculptor, Bruxelles
- Condition
- Excellent
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The art of the Holo
Exceptional and rare Nzambi Holo magic sculpture from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Holo hut is characteristic. Built on a square plan, its thatched roof is conical and descends to the ground. The general appearance is beehive-like, with a wooden doorway often decorated with relief carvings of turtles, lizards or snakes. Above the doorway stretches a carefully woven and sometimes sloping wickerwork spandrel.
This is important because inside the Holo huts there are emblems called Nzambi, for whom the god is specific. These panels linked to the Nzambi cult are real good luck charms for the Holo people. They are represented by male or female figures, more rarely by two figures, sculpted with their arms levitating in the centre of a frame. Maesen writes: ''It is the image of Christ on the cross brought by the first missionaries that is at the origin of the conception of this sculpture, the result of acculturation and religious syncretism.