Country/Region of Manufacture: Rwanda
Culture: African
Title | African tribal Art, Buyu statue from Democratic Republic of Congo. |
Types of object | statue |
County of origin | Democratic Republic of Congo |
People | Buyu |
Materials | Wood |
Approximate size | 33cm-- 13 inches high./weight: kg |
BUYU TRIBAL INFORMATION
The Buyu occupy a small area between the Lualaba River and the northwestern end of Lake Tanganyika, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this region overrun by innumerable shifts in population, groups of diverse origins coexisted in the same village: Lega, Bembe, Buyu, Bangubangu, and Binji, all of whose primary activity would be the hunt. This occasioned numerous rituals, and it also was an important factor in cultural exchanges and in the mobility of the population. The Buyu population is declining and their culture disintegrating due to the expansion of the Bembe over the past 70 years into their territory. Among the six clans that form the Buyu ethnic group, three are known predominantly for their male and female ancestor figures. These venerated chiefs of the Buyu led migrations, founded villages, or provided exceptional leadership. The Buyu worship to nature spirits and to ancestors. When bad luck arrives, they try to understand the will of the ancestors either through dream interpretation or divination. The Buyu immortalized their chiefs and ancestors in vigorous figures characterized by a massive head, long, cylindrical torsos, square shoulders, and bulging trunk. The face is triangular in shape. The forehead is marked by circularly arched eyebrows and the eyes have a coffee-bean shape. The jaw dominates the mouth, and the chin is angular. A hatched motif simulates a stylized beard. These statues are stylistically so close to those by neighboring ethnic groups who also live on the west banks of the lake – such as the Holoholo, the Binji, and the Bangubangu – that it is sometimes difficult to tell the styles apart. These figures are kept in small huts and are displayed in series of five to seven, and have either a beneficial or a malefic influence on everyday life, so they require a cult and associated offerings. Before leaving for the hunt, the men go there to rub their weapons with white clay; if the hunt has been good, they offer a few trophies upon their return. Sometimes bust figures were also left outside the ancestor shrine, either in the village or in the forest.
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Please note I do combined shipping as follows:
: I charge for each additional item where postage is:
15 USD I reduce to 10 USD
20 USD I reduced to 14 USD
25 USD I reduce to 16 USD
30 USD I reduce to 20 USD
35 USD I reduce to 25 USD
40 USD I reduce to 29 USD
45 USD I reduced to 30 USD
50 USD I reduce to 34 USD
55 USD I reduce to 37 USD
60 USD I reduce to 41 USD
65 USD I reduce to 43 USD
70 USD I reduce to 46 USD
75 USD I reduce to 49 USD
80 USD I reduce to 55 USD
I also look the combine weight and reduce further where possible
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