This is a beautiful and elegant Tabwa sculpture, with a shinny brown patina carved from wood. The Tabwa are an ethnic group living mainly on the southwestern shores of Lake Tanganyika, and in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Tabwa sculptures played a function of consolidating the power of the chiefs. This figure embodies the female ancestor of a Tabwa ruler. The creation of male and female ancestor figures by the Tabwa came about through changing power structures. New rulers wanted to prove that their right to rule was historically pre-determined so they commissioned sculptors to create wooden figures that reflected their chiefly ancestry. They were cared for by family elders who kept the figures in shrines within their compounds and made frequent offerings to them for the well-being of the family and its lineage.
- Condition: Good
- Material: Wood
- Age:55-70yrs
- Origin: Democratic Republic Congo
- SKU: CSTA-050
- Weight: 7 kg
- Dimensions: 20 x 74 x 17 cm