Lot: 276

95th Tribal Art Auction

Divination basket "mboko"

D. R. Congo, Luba

Provenance Size Starting price / estimated price
Peter Loebarth, Hameln, Germany D: ca. 3.5 inch This object is not available anymore.

plant fibre, sticky sacrificial patina (figure),
These small baskets are an essential part of the equipment of a fortune teller "bilumbu" that are used for divination.

Besides objects from nature (bird beak, cowry shell, fur, wood) they always contain man-made objects (iron chain, glass ornament).


Roberts, Mary Nooter, Memory, Luba Art and the Making of History, New York 1996, p. 195