africa ca6

Courses

In masonry construction, a horizontal row of stone blocks.

Ndop

a Kuba (carved wooden) commemorative portrait of a king in an ideal state

Lukasa

a memory board used by the Luba people of central Africa

Regalia

the symbols, objects or special costumes worn by or associated with a group

hierarchical scale

relative size indicates relative importance

Oba

title for the king of Benin

Nyim

King of the Kuba people

Ibol

A symbol chosen by a Nyim or Kuba king to represent himself and his reign, used in art to identify which Nyim is represented.

Shody

a projecting headdress on an ndop figure

Sika dwa kofi

golden stool

Nkisi

sacred medicine, spirits, or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa that are believed to contain spiritual powers or spirits.

minkisi

plural of minkisi

nkondi

religious idols made by the Kongo people of the Congo region. Nkondi are a subclass of minkisi that are considered aggressive.

fetish object

an object (such as a small stone carving of an animal) believed to have magical power to protect or aid its owner; a material object regarded with superstitious or extravagant trust or reverence

Power figure

is a magical charm seemingly carved in the likeness of human being, meant to highlight its function in human affairs