– 245 –
made figures, handwritten invento-
ry no. „305“, h: 18.5 cm, w: 26 cm; the
arms of all figures are mostly carved
separately and fixed with nails
These panels are associated with the
„nkanda“ initiation society, which
oversees the transition of boys into
manhood.
The figurative wooden panels were
mounted on the interior walls of a
„kikaku“, a three-sided, roofed shelter,
and were displayed toward the end of
the „nkanda“ rites.
The panels are intended as meta-
phorical representations of rebirth,
sexual maturity, fertility, death, the
spirit world, and communal values—
metaphors that can only be fully un-
derstood by initiated men.
The purpose of displaying the panels
was to remind the initiates of the less-
ons they had learned during their time
of initiation. (Adenike Cosgrove, 2021)
AHDRC: 0165226
Provenance
William Brill (1918-2003), New York
City, USA
By inheritance to family
Arte Primitivo, New York, USA, 18 Sep-
tember 2019, lot 687
Vgl. Lit.: Bourgeois, Arthur P., Art of
the Yaka and Suku, Paris 1984, p. 256,
ill. 238
€ 3.000 - 6.000