Initiation Statue – Wood – Metoko / Lengola – Congo

Powerful Janus Metoko figure from DR Congo.
The 15,000 Metoko people live surrounded on three sides by the Lengola. They are also regulated by the Bukota society and are divided into six clans. Living in deep forests, hunting is their main source of food. The figures produced by Metoko are large, have either very angular or abstract features, and are often covered with painted or incised dots. They are used at the beginning of the circumcision ceremonies.
[Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, The Tribal arts of Africa – P.44}
Good condition with traces of wear and tear. Covered in red and white clay (phembe).

Provenance: former private collection from the Netherlands