Pendant
date: label: Date
content: Late 18th century
name: label: Maker
content: Lega artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: Precolonial Lega society was governed by Bwami, a graded association open to all men and women in a given village. Bwami was also an educational system through which esteemed Lega values were taught. Above all, Bwami conveyed prestige, and its activities were the sole impetus for the visual arts.
label: Label Text
content: The highest grades in Bwami were yananio and kindi, ranks comprising the intellectual, moral and political elite of the society, who were privileged to own or have access to the most prestigious art forms. Among these were carved wood, ivory or bone figurines that were also used to teach Bwami initiates moral precepts. The figurines represent a vast array of characters and personages from Bwami proverbs. They illustrate such cultural values as respect and moderation. This figurine is also a pendant and would have been worn suspended from a necklace or belt.
label: Description
content: Ivory figurine pendant, flat with diamond shaped head, the chin on the torso and short legs. The pendant has a honey colored patina with darker color in recesses.
label: Provenance
content: Unknown maker, unknown date; given as a gift to a Belgian couple with extended colonial interests, Kivu, Belgian Congo (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), 1947-1950; sold through Louis de Strycker to Count Jean-Jacques de Launoit (b. 1937), 1986; sold to the National Museum of African Art, 1993.
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Democratic Republic of the Congo
topic: label: Topic
content: Initiation
label: Topic
content: Leadership
label: Topic
content: Status
label: Topic
content: Male use
label: Topic
content: male
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Acquisition Grant from the James Smithson Society
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 93-5-1
objectType: label: Type
content: Jewelry
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ivory
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 9.8 x 3.8 x 1.5 cm (3 7/8 x 1 1/2 x 9/16 in.)