Carved wooden figurine, Suku “fetish;” Mbambi (Northeast Baasuku). Height 48.23 cm. Mbambi figurine. Carved by a man from Mungulu village of Secteur Pay, Territoire Masi-Manimba. The manwas regarded as a good sculptor by the Suku. Figurine is part of the paraphernalia of the “war medicine” Mbambi. The medicine was first introduced shortly before 1920, by the Suku king from the Bambala to the north. It was given to groups of elders in each chieftaincy who constituted a kind of “policeforce” led by local political chief or his representative. Every member of the police society was responsible for enforcing peace and order in his vicinity; he had the right to collect fines from those creating disorders (fines shared by all the other policemen of the chieftaincy), and could count upon the help of other members of the police-society in case of resistance by wrong-doers.
Donor:
Igor Kopytoff and University Appropriation
Collection place:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Verbatim coll. place:
Africa, Suku
Culture or time period:
Suku
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Fetishes and Figurines
Function:
5.0 Use not specified (Ritual, Pageantry, and Recreation)
Accession date:
1960
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Loans:
S1965-1966 #2: Civic Arts Center (Walnut Creek) (July 7, 1965–August 5, 1965)