Luba figurative pipe - SOLD OUT
The central place of femininity in the African art of the Luba is well established. This collector's item is a good example. The focus of the pipe is topped by a beautiful kneeling woman holding her breast. Her headdress is classic, pulled back and beautifully detailed, adorned with a tiara in the style of the headdresses fashionable among Luba women in the first half of the 20th century.
More than simple everyday objects, Luba works of art confer prestige on their owner, like neckrests and caryatid stools, for example, of which our gallery offers you some remarkable examples.
The Luba, like their neighbors, attach great importance to tobacco, which is considered a mild narcotic but also a cultural and social factor. Other substances can be smoked, such as medicinal or magic preparations.
Water pipes are commonly used among the Luba to reduce the harshness of tobacco that cannot be dried for very long. As often happens, sculptors seized on an everyday object to endow it with symbolic meaning. Their configuration reflects the relationship between the sexes. The fresh water from the pipe, stored in the “matrix” of the sculpted body, is neutralized by the heat of the “feminine” stove; the “masculine” reed must unite these two forces.
00982
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Circa 1950
- Size
- 16 x 5 cm
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Origin
- Tribal art collection Belgium
- Condition
- Excellent
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The central place of femininity in the African art of the Luba is well established. This collector's item is a good example. The focus of the pipe is topped by a beautiful kneeling woman holding her breast. Her headdress is classic, pulled back and beautifully detailed, adorned with a tiara in the style of the headdresses fashionable among Luba women in the first half of the 20th century.
More than simple everyday objects, Luba works of art confer prestige on their owner, like neckrests and caryatid stools, for example, of which our gallery offers you some remarkable examples.
The Luba, like their neighbors, attach great importance to tobacco, which is considered a mild narcotic but also a cultural and social factor. Other substances can be smoked, such as medicinal or magic preparations.
Water pipes are commonly used among the Luba to reduce the harshness of tobacco that cannot be dried for very long. As often happens, sculptors seized on an everyday object to endow it with symbolic meaning. Their configuration reflects the relationship between the sexes. The fresh water from the pipe, stored in the “matrix” of the sculpted body, is neutralized by the heat of the “feminine” stove; the “masculine” reed must unite these two forces.