Very beautiful statuette of a hanged man in wood and kaolin, typical of the M'Bolé ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Height: 42 cm, age cracks (see photos)

The M'bolé people

The one hundred and fifty thousand Mbolé live on the left bank of the Zaire River, in the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mbolé villages are autonomous, led by a chief elected from among the elders of each family. They live from the cultivation – by the women, while the men hunt – of cassava and rice.

Mbolé masks and statues

The Mbolé are best known for their ancestor statues characterized by geometric features, an elongated body, a large head with a heart-shaped face, a protruding mouth and a crown hairstyle. Yellow and white pigments are generally applied to these statues.

Mbole masks are rare and worn only during circumcision ceremonies or for the funeral of a dignitary of the Lilwa society. Oval in shape, they are covered with pigments evoking a human face.

M’Bolé Hanged Man Statue

Mbole artists are also known for their anthropomorphic statues, which have hands on hips, slightly bent legs, shoulders thrown forward and a large head with a heart-shaped face.

Usually medium-sized, they can reach a height/length of 100 cm.

It is generally believed that they represent a hanged man, called an ojika, judged guilty by the Lilwa society (see above) or sacrificed so that a dignitary could gain access to the rank of isoya of this society. These statues, carved by one of the members of the hanged man's family - who was not entitled to a traditional funeral and was generally simply buried in the forest - are supposed to contain his soul. Kept in special huts in the forest, they are only displayed during initiation ceremonies to show the implications of a crime to new initiates. These statues are carried on stretchers and are the subject of various comments during meetings, even if women and children are not allowed to see them.

The statuette presented here is typical of this style of statues.

Variants of the name Mbolé:

We can observe several variations in the name of the ethnic group: Bambole, Bole, Imona, Mboles