LULUA, DRC

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Long-necked Lulua figures are used for a range of spiritual practices and are associated with ancestral spirits. Those supporting a vessel in one hand are called mbulenga, meaning ‘for beauty, for good luck,’ and cast protection over infants. Coated with the reddish-brown pigment of the camwood tree (ngula), these power figures present a stately posture, with a confident stance and large head perched atop an exaggerated neck. Their power resides in the contents of the vessel they carry, which could include the hair of a female albino, the bark of a sacred tree, and red tail feathers of a gray parrot.

The details that characterize Lulua figures reflect the same styles and cultural practices that living people employed in their time. One of these attributes is the scarification patterning that adorns the figures’ bodies. In Lulua society, decorative scarification of one’s body made an individual bwimpe, or beautiful – not just physically, but also morally. These raised patterns can be extensive, with dense motifs worked into the faces, necks, and torsos of some figures. The ngula pigment used to color these statues also mirrored Lulua beauty techniques, as they applied a vibrant tone to their bodies with a mixture of red earth, oil, and kaolin.

This example shows a vigorous posture with bent arms tucked against the body, thick bent legs, and a protruding umbilicus, which symbolizes inner power. The neck is quite long and emphasizes the size of the head, which is peaked with the ‘horn’ commonly found in these figures. Its face bears an imposing expression with arched eyebrows. Scarification patterns are found on the forehead, jawline, and neck. Traces of a white substance remain in the cup held in the figure’s left hand.

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