Hemba Memorial Male Custom Stand Congo African Art

Additional Information:

A classic Hemba memorial figure carved from heavy and dense wood in a classic Hemba style.The figure shows much handling and good age. This wonderful figure would be a good addition to any collection.

Hemba number around 80,000 and live on the right bank of the Lualaba River west of Lake Tanganyika. They have been heavily influenced by their neighbors to the south, the Luba. Elements from the Luba are still present in the socio-political organization of the Hemba. The Hemba are divided into large clans headed by a hereditary leader known as the "Fumu Mwalo," who administers justice and watches over the ancestor figures. It is only in the last quarter century that their art has been identified as distinct from that of the Luba. Thus, many masterpieces in museums and famous collections have had to be reclassified. The most common of the Hemba ancestor figures are called "singitis". These figures can be up to 90cm high, usually male and in standing position with the hands along the navel, elaborate coiffure commonly cruciform, elongated or round face with serene expression. They were kept in special houses or in the house of the clan leader, "Fumu Mwalo". "Fumu Mwalo" would consult these ancestor figures, and also make offerings and sacrifices to them some important decision is to be made or every time the community needs ancestors help. The warm colored pagina comes as a result of extended us through offerings and touching. Singiti figures serve as intercessors between the living and the dead and as effigies of ancestor to recognize lineage heads and document title to land. Singiti figures are not strictly considered to be portraits of particular individuals. They depict rank, social status and ethnic identity through stance, hair-style and dress.

Recommended Reading: Francois Neyt, LA GRANDE STATUAIRE HEMBA DU ZAIRE, Louvain-La-Neuve, 1977