Pere statuette, DRC ex Zare - Lot 126

Pere statuette, DRC ex Zare Africananthropomorphic figure, whose short, stocky arms, digitate at the ends, are carried forward, accompanying the inclination of the upper part of the body. The legs, with their massive feet, seem to balance the whole. Polychrome punctiform motifs, satin patina. 26 x 9 cm The Pere, Piri or Bakwa pygmies are a semi-nomadic tribe descended from the Bira-Kumu of Uganda. After being decimated by Arab slave traders, they settled among the Nande in the Libero region, also among the pygmies. They have several traditional cults: the Ndekele ancestor cult, the esumba society, the Ntema therapeutic rites, Kilanga, an nsindi initiation society with sculptures. Some of these were used to promote hunting. The ekoto figures of the esumba society were associated with the cult of twins. From "100 people of Zaïre and their sculpture "M.L. Félix.