Figure, elongated animal (Lele dog) carved on stomach and front legs; fiber thong around neck; tall and 2 legs broken.
Donor:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection place:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Verbatim coll. place:
Central Africa, Congo, (Kinshasa), Zaire, Kasai-Sankuru area, Ba-Kuba; Purchased from Mario Periotti
Culture or time period:
Ba Kuba
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection date:
1968
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Carvings (visual works)
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies
Accession date:
December 16, 1974
Context of use:
Used in divination. As the flat back of the animal figure is rubbed with a wetted nut or piece of wood, a series of alternatives are stated. If the nut or wood piece sticks and does not fall off when the figure is inverted, the correct statement is indicated.
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
length 28 centimeters
Comment:
B/W photo stored with Bascom Collection Index Card File. PAHMA Storage Loc: 20A, V-18-10. Collected by mail from man in Congo.
Loans:
S1968-1969 #39: Contra Costa College (November 18, 1968–December 27, 1968), S1968-1969 #87: College of Marin (April 3, 1969–May 2, 1969), S1969-1970 #32: Santa Rosa Junior College (October 24, 1969–October 31, 1969), S1978-1979 #65: Department of Anthropology (UC Berkeley)/Burton Benedict (June 1, 1979–May 1, 1979), and S1989-1990 #13: California State University, East Bay (January 10, 1990–February 13, 1990)