Kongo (Bakongo, Bashikongo, Kakongo),  Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo Republic

Female ancestor figure.  The Kongo number about three million people.  Present in three countries – The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Angola and the Congo Republic – the Kongo occupy the region at the mouth of the Congo River. Among the Kongo people the king holds political, judiciary, and religion power. He makes decisions about warfare, regulates commerce with foreign countries, and receives tributes from his vassals. When he renders justice, he is seated on the skin of a leopard, wears a hat and a necklace of teeth, and holds a commander’s stuff and a fan. Despite the king’s conversion many years ago the Kongo people held on to their ancestral worship and traditional beliefs. The Kongo demonstrate the extreme complexity of traditions on major occasions. Kongo artists carved numerous figures and objects characterized by naturalistic features. This figure is one of them related apparently to the ancestor cult.

Material:  wood

Size: 16”x5”x4”

Price:  $215+$28 (S&H)                                         [#N3K7S351]