Yaka Slit Gong Double Head with Bird Congo African Art

Description

Title
Yaka Slit Gong Double Head with Bird Congo African Art
Type of Object
slit gong
Country of Origin
DR Congo
People
Yaka
Materials
Wood, pigment
Approximate Age
20th century
Height (in)
38 (without stand) 56 (with stand)
Width (in)
16.5
Other Dimensions
31.5 inches H. x 6.25 inches W.
Overall Condition
good. Most of our pieces have spent decades on at least two continents, and have been treasured by several owners.   Small splits, scrapes and cracks are a normal part of their patina attesting to their age and extensive use.  We examine each piece carefully when we receive it and report any damage we find in our listings.  Please look carefully at the pictures which may also reveal condition and damage.
Damage/Repair
dents, chips, shallow cracks , wear
Additional Information:
The Yaka diviner has a position of power within the community. The slit gong is used by the diviner during rites of initiation. Slit gongs such as this  are then used by diviners when the are possessed spirits and is performing divination rituals. (See a photograph of a Yaka diviner during a ritual in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's "ART AND ORACLE," by LaGamma.) Each diviner has his own slit gong, which incorporates the spirit of the master diviner who was his mentor. "It is the clairvoyance of this ancestor that will direct the novice in his or her own practice, and the slit will serve as the mouth of the oracle's voice when the slit drum is struck." ("La Gamma," op cit).
Yaka people number approximately 300,000 and live along the Kwango River in the SW Democratic Republic of the Congo. They have a highly developed artistic sense---and they instill beauty and drama in even mundane objects. They are best known for the upturned noses found on initiation masks and diviner's fetishes, but their art can be abstract and vague as well. They sometimes create statues of considerable proportions. Though these normally are used by diviners and healers and are used in various ways and for multiple purposes.There are many wonderful Yaka artworks pictured in scholarly texts and their masks and figures grace the finest museums and private collections.
Recommended reading:
Arthur P. Bourgeois, 1984, ART OF THE YAKA AND SUKU
Arthur P. Bourgeois, 1985 The Yaka and Suku, Iconography of Religions VII, D. 1, Institute of Religious Iconography. State University Grogen, Leiden E.J. Brill, pp.1-26
I have examined this piece and agree with the description.
Niangi Batulukisi, PhD.
**128632**
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