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African & Tribal Art :
Yaka, Teke : Yaka Wooden Ancestral Sculpture
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Yaka Wooden Ancestral Sculpture - PF.4774
Origin: Southwestern Congo/Angola
Circa: 20
th
Century AD
Dimensions:
13" (33.0cm) high
x 4.25" (10.8cm) wide
Collection: African
Style: Yaka
Medium: Wood
$4,800.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
This sculpture of an old man is a symbol for the
wisdom of the ages. He is probably an effigy of an
ancestor or village elder, holding his long beard
with both hands, emphasizing the power of his
ancient wisdom. A furrowed brow created by
incisions above the nose, reveal many years of
contemplation and introspection. Deep-set eyes
seem to look both inward and into the distance--to
places where normal eyes cannot see. The long,
pointed nose adds a distinguished air; while a large
mouth highlights the importance of words he seems
about to speak. This is a man who dwells in the
realm of dreams. He is someone who has surpassed
the physical world in order to explore the realm of
the spirit.
The Kwango River area (southwest of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo) is the home of
some 300,000 highly artistic Yaka people. Yaka or
yakala means “males,” “the strong ones,” thus
Bayaka, “the strong people.” The Yaka society is
organized into strong lineage group headed by
elders and lineage headmen. The chief of the
lineage had the power of life and death over lineage
members. He was in charge of the cult of the
ancestors and judiciary authority, and it was
compulsory that he have large number of
descendants. Chiefs, including dependent village
chiefs, regional overlords, and paramount chiefs,
are believed to have extra-human abilities, ruling
the underworld or spiritual realm as well as the
ordinary world. A chief participates in the affairs of
witches so that he can tap their power for the good
of the community. On the periphery of the
hierarchy, the “master of the earth” plays an
important role during the rites that accompany the
hunt – the primary activity of the men. The Yaka
hunters perform a specific ritual under the direction
of the “master of the earth” to guarantee that they
procure game. The Yaka have an initiation, the n-
khanda. A special hut is built in the forest to give
shelter to the postulants during their retreat; the
event ends in circumcision, an occasion for great
masked festivities including dances and songs. The
n-khanda is organized every time there are enough
eligible youths between ten and fifteen years of age.
The arts of the Yaka people are very much alive
today. The statues that contain magic ingredients,
the biteki (nkisi), are multi-functional and
sometimes have contradictory roles, for example,
they were used to heal and to cause illness. The
medications are placed in the figure’s abdomen,
which is closed up with a resin stopper, or enclosed
in small bags hung around the neck or waist. All
nkisi figures are manipulated by a diviner to activate
a force which can either inflict illness or protect
one’s clan from illness or harm, depending upon the
particular set of circumstances. The diviner has an
important position in Yaka society because he owns
and activates powerful objects, including some
masks, that can protect or harm.
The Yaka also have statues of chiefs which are not,
however, portraits. These emphasize his authority
by representing the chief, his many wives, his
children, and his servants, gather together in the
same shelter. Large, life-size carved figures stand
at the entrances of Yaka initiation huts, the inside
walls of which are covered with painted bark panels.
The torso is highly developed; missing extremities
allude to an accident that befell a hero. The
phuungu, a statuette of some 6” belongs to the
chief of the patrilinear lineage. The torso is wrapped
in magic ingredients and has an almost spherical
shape; often hooked onto the roof of the hut, it
receives libations of blood that activate its power.
The masks are commonly used. The eastern Yaka
mask is called kakunga (“the chief”) and is
considered one of the important masks in the
circumcision ceremony. Other Yaka masks are
widely varied in style, although most of them are
polychrome. The nkisi masks have a long,
exaggerated upward-hooked nose, open mouth.
Many masks and figures are remarkable by the
turned-up nose. This is a strange but common
detail, and there is no decisive explanation for this
nose. One source supposes that it is an allusion to
the elephant's trunk. A long handle under the chin
was held by the dancer. The mask is generally
surmounted by a richly ornamented, abstract
construction – sometimes resembling a Thailand
pagoda; sometimes in animal shapes, made of
twigs, covered with fiber cloth, and finally painted.
A variant is the broad-nosed polychrome mask, with
round, protruding eyes and square, block-like ears.
These two types of masks were used in initiation
ceremonies of the mukanda or nkanda societies. At
the conclusion of the initiation, the masks were held
in front of the faces of the dancers. There are also
animal masks. The masks fulfill several functions:
some serve as protection against evil forces, others
ensure the fertility of the young initiate. Their role
consists in frightening the public, healing the sick,
and casting spells. The kholuka mask dances alone
at the end of celebrations. Very popular, featuring
globular or tubular eyes, a protuberant or snub
nose, and an open mouth showing its teeth, it
sometimes has a hairdo of branches covered with
raffia. All refer to the power of the elders and their
predecessors, and every element of the mask is the
plastic translation of a cosmological term. The
colors are those of the rites of passage; the serpent
motif symbolizes the rainbow and the moon. After
undergoing various trials in more or less secret
camps, the initiates appear in the village, dancing
and wearing masks prepared for this purpose.
The Yaka use a narrow cylindrical wooden slit-drum
with a carved head for divination purposes.
Sometimes the head is Janus form. This instrument,
the main insignia of the diviner, is the focus of a
complex system of ritual institutions concerned with
hereditary curses and curing. The slit-drum
functions in a variety of contexts. It is used as a
container for preparing and serving divinatory
medicines, but it is also beaten at the funeral of a
diviner.
- (PF.4774)
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