GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Decorated with incised geometric designs representing pangolin or tortoise scales and a female figure or head, bow stands were items of royal regalia that served both practical and spiritual purposes. They were used to hold bows and arrows as well as symbolize sacred kingship. They refer to Mbidi Kiluwe, a culture hero and renowned hunter and warrior, who used a bow and arrows and introduced sacred kingship to the Luba. This one retains traces of oil that had been rubbed into the wood.
Royal bow stands were not displayed in public but kept by rulers’ bedsides. They were also enshrined with potent relics of past kings in a shrine house located within the royal compound and guarded by the Kyabuta, a female dignitary. The head on this bow stand probably represents a female founder of a royal clan.
Excerpt from
Dr. Roslyn A. Walker, Senior Curator of the Arts of Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific and The Margaret McDermott Curator of African Art, DMA label copy, September 2015.
NOTES
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PROVENANCE
n.d.: Stillman Collection, New York
1969: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Eugene and Margaret McDermott, purchased from above [1]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the object record card in the Collections Records object file.
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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Apply to objects where number equals 1969. S.120
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General Description
Decorated with incised geometric designs representing pangolin or tortoise scales and a female figure or head, bow stands were items of royal regalia that served both practical and spiritual purposes. They were used to hold bows and arrows as well as symbolize sacred kingship. They refer to Mbidi Kiluwe, a culture hero and renowned hunter and warrior, who used a bow and arrows and introduced sacred kingship to the Luba. This one retains traces of oil that had been rubbed into the wood.
Royal bow stands were not displayed in public but kept by rulers’ bedsides. They were also enshrined with potent relics of past kings in a shrine house located within the royal compound and guarded by the Kyabuta, a female dignitary. The head on this bow stand probably represents a female founder of a royal clan.
Excerpt from
Dr. Roslyn A. Walker, Senior Curator of the Arts of Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific and The Margaret McDermott Curator of African Art, DMA label copy, September 2015.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Stillman Collection, New York
1969: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Eugene and Margaret McDermott, purchased from above [1]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the object record card in the Collections Records object file.
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1969. S.120
source file
object_notes_4_b-0196.xml.nores