Lulua Tobacco mortar
€235.00
Culture and symbol in Lulua art
This tobacco or hemp mortar comes from a Belgian colonial family.
It was harvested between the Kasai and Sankuru rivers, South Congo.
Beautiful first generation honey patina, fine and careful carving.
The top of the figure's head was hollowed out so that tobacco, hemp or other magical ingredients to be inhaled or consumed, as part of healing or divination practices, could be crushed there, using a pestle that has now disappeared. Smoking hemp was a means of contacting the ancestors and the spirit world.
The symbolism of this figure and its position offers several interpretations.
It could be a chief meditating on his duties and responsibilities. But it is also possible that this figurine was associated with a hunting ritual as suggested by the comparison with another crouching Luluwa figurine in the Barbier-Mueller collection, identified as a hunting fetish. In this case, the statuette is part of a ritual. It is used to prepare tobacco which is then smoked in a pipe.
The hunter blows smoke on it to activate his power and ensure the success of the hunt.
The crouching position is synonymous with rest in societies where stools and chairs were not commonly available or used. On the other hand, it can evoke illness, pain, even remorse and sorrow. Among the Tchokwe, a neighbouring people of the Luluwa, the lurking figures represent ancestors who lament being neglected by their descendants.
Shipping fees
01860
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Mid XXth century
- Size
- 12 cm
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Origin
- Tribal art collection Belgium
- Condition
- Excellent
Culture and symbol in Lulua art
This tobacco or hemp mortar comes from a Belgian colonial family.
It was harvested between the Kasai and Sankuru rivers, South Congo.
Beautiful first generation honey patina, fine and careful carving.
The top of the figure's head was hollowed out so that tobacco, hemp or other magical ingredients to be inhaled or consumed, as part of healing or divination practices, could be crushed there, using a pestle that has now disappeared. Smoking hemp was a means of contacting the ancestors and the spirit world.
The symbolism of this figure and its position offers several interpretations.
It could be a chief meditating on his duties and responsibilities. But it is also possible that this figurine was associated with a hunting ritual as suggested by the comparison with another crouching Luluwa figurine in the Barbier-Mueller collection, identified as a hunting fetish. In this case, the statuette is part of a ritual. It is used to prepare tobacco which is then smoked in a pipe.
The hunter blows smoke on it to activate his power and ensure the success of the hunt.
The crouching position is synonymous with rest in societies where stools and chairs were not commonly available or used. On the other hand, it can evoke illness, pain, even remorse and sorrow. Among the Tchokwe, a neighbouring people of the Luluwa, the lurking figures represent ancestors who lament being neglected by their descendants.