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Lega Bwami Society Female Initiation Figure, Congo #27
$ 3,200.00 $ 1,600.00
- Lega Bwami Society Female Initiation Figure, Congo #27
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Lega wooden figures are rare and served as part of the contents of a basket used during initiation ceremonies. As Biebuyck (2002: 119)
describes, '...the essential presentation takes place during the kunanuna masengo rite in lutumbo lwa kindi. The figurines are removed
from the baskets together with numerous other manufactured and natural objects, and they are displayed. One by one, sometimes
several in a single sequence, the sculptures are picked up by the presentors and danced wiith. For a long time these important figurines
were barely represented in world collections. They were jealously kept by the initiates as expressions of their in-group spirit, as major
links with the deceased predecessors and as a profound expression of ultimate values and historical interdependencies. Several of these
larger wooden figurines represent in their morphology a sort of prototypical icon where form, action and meaning conicide to some extent.'#27 - Sculpture relating to a proverb only known to initiates, this human figure has an erect arm and a stump. This attitude generally symbolizes the appeasement of a quarrel through the arbitration of an individual.
- The tribal art of the Lega , Balega, or even Warega, is distinguished by its initiation statuettes, some of which were kept in a basket intended for the highest ranking officers of the Bwami from different communities. This type of Iginga tribal art statuette. Maginga in the plural), was the property of the high-ranking officers of Bwami, a secret society admitting men and their wives, and governing social life. This organization was subdivided into initiatory stages, the highest being the Kindi. The statues were used during the initiation of the aspirants. Each is a representation with a particular form and meaning from which always derives a morality or dogma. The particularity of the Lega, unlike other ethnic groups, is to judge the quality of their ritual objects according to their effectiveness.
- Measurements: 12.6 Inch
- Weight: 0.44 Pounds