The Yaka are an African ethnic group found in the southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The wall panels are rectangular and carved from light wood with human figures or animals depicted in high relief. All of the panels photographed and/or collected in the 20th century depict a uniform style. The figures are carved in high relief and painted in a characteristic fashion. The upper part of the faces is painted white while the lower parts often have a red pigment. The figures are usually depicted wearing clothing and distinctive hats or headdresses. The background surfaces of the panels are entirely covered with a variety of geometric decorations including circles, lozenges, triangles, zigzag lines and leaf patterns. The stylistic arrangement of panels with figurative reliefs alternating with those displaying two-dimensional geometric decoration or figures bordered with geometric patterns, The function of the panels may have been to restate in visual terms ideas found in stories and proverbs associated with the initiation process. In this way, they were used by the elders who taught moral and social values to the initiates. The panels may also have been a dramatic way for Yaka elders to publicize the successful completion of the initiation cycle, as they displayed a variety of highly decorated wooden sculptures produced in the initiation camp. This sculpture is crafted in dense wood with a shiny brown patina with visible signs of old age.
- Material: wood and paint
- Condition: Good
- Age:approx 50-60yrs
- Origin: DRC Congo
- SKU: LSTA-076
- Weight: 4.1 kg
- Dimensions: 37 x 98 x 10 cm