Lot: 323

97e Vente aux enchères

Bâton d'officier "kibango"

R. D. Congo, Luba

Provenance Taille Prix d’appel / Prix d'Estimation
Jan Lundberg, Malmö, Sweden
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels, Belgium
H: 96 cm Cet objet n’est plus disponible.

wood, metal, pigments, base

Staffs of office, "kibango", are prestigious objects of great power that belong to the royal insignia.

Shapes, figural accessories and carved patterns provide information about the history of the respective owner and the lineage, which is why each "kibango" is unique. In a way, the staffs are carved narratives that can be read like texts and serve as a memory aid for their owner. However, only the owner himself or the magic priest who once consecrated the staff is able to do this.

Additionally charged with medicines and metals by ritual specialists, the powerful staffs are also said to have healing and protective powers.


Roberts, Mary Nooter, Memory, New York 1996, p. 162 ff.