Mbole (Bambole), Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ceremonial statue. The 150,000 Mbole get their name from their position vis-à-vie the river; “Mbole” means “the people from downstream”. The Mbole live in central DRC, on the left bank of the Zaire River. The women are involved mainly in cultivating manioc and rice while the men hunt. Lilwa (libwe), a graded men's organization, dominates Mbole life. It supervises ritual, educational, judicial, social, political, and economic functions. Boys of seven to twelve years old are isolated in the forest for circumcision and initiation, undergoing ritual purification and proving themselves through ordeals and fasting. This statue represents a man who has been hanged. The lilwa association used to judge and condemn to death by hanging those guilty of breaking its rules, either by betraying its secrets, committing adultery or murder, or by quarreling with each other. These condemned people had no right to ordinary funerals, and their bodies were hidden in the forest. Even so these figures are not portraits, but might be called prototypes. These statues were also used in the initiation ceremonies.

Material:  wood

Size:  H. 14½”, W. 4”, D. 2½”                                    

Price:  $180+$23 (S&H)                                                 [#O9M9S690]