Lumbo (Lumbu, Balumbo), Gabon

Male Figure (Kosi). This equatorial forest people settled in the south and southwest of Gabon. They form part of the intricate network of Gabon’s forty ethnicities, all of whose institutions are similar and whose daily life is regulated by the necessities arising from a physically hostile environment. Lacking centralized political organization, social life is concentrated in the village and clans. Ancestors and tutelary spirits are worshipped, and it is the initiation brotherhoods, which play a therapeutic and judiciary role and rule social life. Lumbo artists carved figures influenced by Punu and Kongo styles. Their kosi statues and masks appear in funerary rituals, initiation ceremonies, and the magical rites whose function is to unmask sorcerers. Kosi are portraits of spirits contained within the sculpture itself. Generally, among the Lumbo, figurative sculpture is used for protection from malevolent forces and promotion of fecundity.

Material: wood

Size: 26”x8 ½”x8½”