The Lega do not have a centralized political system. Instead, leadership and governance are vested in Bwami, a graded association open to both men and women that teaches values of moderation, nonviolence, kinship, respect, constraint and moral as well as physical beauty. It was also the major channel for prestige and the sole motivation for the visual arts.

Bwa divination objects commonly include figurative hooks and long staffs but rarely free-standing figures with the palms turned inward like this one. Such figures were believed to have supernatural powers that could be manipulated by a diviner to ascertain the cause and cure of his client's misfortune.

Femininity, composure, intense concentration, and, most importantly, maternity are epitomized in Yombe mother and child figures. An upswept miter-like hairstyle or hat frames the mother's face, with its carefully composed expression.

This janus, or bi-faced, reliquary guardian figure is one of the most abstract depictions of the human figure in African art. Its facial features are minimized, and its body is reduced to a diamond-shaped lozenge. The flared crescent above its head represents a headdress, and cylindrical ear ornaments hang beneath the coiffure.