Divination Instrument With Muller
date: label: Accession Date
content: 20 Nov 1899
name: label: Collector
content: Rev. Samuel P. Verner
label: Donor Name
content: Rev. Samuel P. Verner
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "CARVING IN WOOD REPRESENTING WILD BOAR DECORATED ON SIDES WITH INCISED LINES. THE BACK IS FLAT. A SMALL WOODEN MULLER IS RUBBED ALONG THE BACK IN DIVINATION RITES. ORIGINALLY ASCRIBED TO BALUBA (SEE CATALOG BOOK). A SIMILAR OBJECT IN THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA, IS LABELED "DIVINATION OBJECT -BUSHONGO." - G.D.G. DEC. 1961. OBJECTS WITH VERY SIMILAR SHAPE AND DECORATION ARE ASCRIBED TO THE BUSHONGO (KUBA) BY TORDAY AND JOYCE SEE TORDAY AND JOYCE, "NOTES ETHNOGRAPHIQUE...LES BUSHONGO," ANNALES DU MUSEE DU CONGO BELGE, SER. D, IV, T. II, FASC. 1., P. 123. THE BACK OF THE ANIMAL FIGURE IS MOISTENED AND THE MULLER RUBBED BACK AND FORTH ALONG IT WHILE THE DIVINER MENTIONS POSSIBLE CAUSES OF THE ILLNESS OR MISFORTUNE. WHEN THE MULLER STICKS TO THE BACK OF THE ANIMAL, THE CAUSE JUST MENTIONED IS PRONOUNCED TO BE THE TRUE ONE. THIS ITEM IS SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED ON PP. 310-312 OF VERNER'S BOOK, "PIONEERING IN CENTRAL AFRICA". VERNER SAYS IT IS CALLED LUBUKI MEANING "THAT WHICH CAUSES [ONE] TO KNOW [SOMETHING], OR REVEALS." STYLISTICALLY, THIS EXAMPLE OF AN "ITOMBWA" RUBBING ORACLE SEEMS CLOSER TO LELE EXAMPLES THAN TO KUBA ONES. SEE J. CORNET, A SURVEY OF AFRICAN ART: THE BRONSON COLLECTION (RALEIGH, N.C., 1978), FIG. 128 (CONTRAST WITH FIGS. 124 AND 125). - G.D.G. 10/13/82"
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jun 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Kasai River (upper), Democratic Republic of the Congo (not certain) / Angola (not certain), Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Lele
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 035839
label: USNM Number
content: E204388-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Divination Set
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 24.1 cm