Buyu ancestor statue, Boyo, Bassikassingo, DRC - Lot 171

Buyu ancestor statue, Boyo, Bassikassingo, DRC A diamond-shaped head crowned with a diadem, offering a flat profile, surmounts a powerful, proportionally reduced body, whose abdomen protrudes. Stubby legs, set on wide feet, rise from a rectangular block. Black crusty patina, desiccation cracks 57 x 16 cm Migratory flows have mixed the Bembe , Lega , Buyu (Buye) or Boyo , Binji and Bangubangu peoples within the same territories. The Basikasingo, considered by some to be a Buyu sub-clan, are not, however, of Bembe origin, as Biebuyck's work has enabled us to trace their history. Organized into lineages, they have borrowed the Bwami association from the Lega. Bembe and Boyo traditions are relatively similar: they venerate the spirits of nature, specifically water in the case of the Boyo, but also heroic ancestors, whose will is sought through divinatory rites. Hunting is also an opportunity to make sacrifices in gratitude to the entities whose favor and protection one has begged. Their masks are rare and their function poorly documented.