A Rare LUBA Bowl Bearer

Description

Carrier of LUBA cup
Style of the “Master of the three rivers”

Incorporating influences from the workshops of Kabongo and Mwanza, this master and his successors or disciples developed a very original style.
The stool preserved at the Metropolitan Art Museum and the two cup carriers illustrated in François Neyt’s work are emblematic of this.

Another cup carrier, with a similar dark patina, was sold by Christie’s in June 2015 (lot 87) and presented as “related to the workshop of Mwanza but distinguished by its harmonious proportions and elegance” (which is characteristic of the style of the “three rivers” according to Neyt).

The famous “Cup carriers” of the Luba are sacred sculptures representing a seated woman, kneeling (or rarely standing) holding with both hands (or more rarely on the head) a gourd-shaped container or ceramic cup.
Used by the Bilumbu, the diviners, they serve as the passage, the intermediary, between them and the spirit world. The depicted woman (formerly commonly called Kabila) is a seer holding the Mboko, a gourd containing divination materials. She is supposed to accompany the diviner when he enters trances.

The Luba are a large people in eastern DRC. Their caryatid seats, cup carriers, chief’s staffs, arrow quivers, adzes, and cult statues are very famous and among the most prized objects in African Art.

Characteristics: