African Art, Luba Offering Bowl Mboko Vase From D. R. Congo

The famous “Cup bearers” of the Luba are sacralized sculptures, representing a seated, kneeling (or much more rarely standing) woman holding with her two hands (or more rarely on the head) a container. Used by the Bilumbu, the soothsayers, they are the passage, the intermediary, between them and the spirit World. The woman represented (formerly commonly called Kabila) is a clairvoyant holding the Mboko, calabash containing the divination material. She is supposed to accompany the soothsayer when it enters into trances. Their caryatid seats, their cup holders, chiefs’ sticks, arrow holders, adzes and ancestral statues are very famous and among the most valued objects in African.

The Luba (Baluba in Tchiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu River, hence the name (Baluba “the Lubas”). In the 16th century they created a state, organized into a decentralized chiefdom, which extended from the Kasai River to Lake Tanganyika. The chiefdom cover a small territory without any real border which includes at most three villages. Handmade with intricate sculptures, this container is a perfect representation of the Makonde culture. The container is ideal for storing things and other small items, making it a versatile piece for any home or office.

Measurements are 5 inches by 13.5 inches