The iginga statues in ivory are the exclusive and individual property of the initiated association bwami ... In the absence of information collected at the time of the collection with his owner, it unfortunately impossible to identify his specific meaning and his name. Of more general manner, all initiated lutumbo lwa kindi possesses at least a statue of this type, obtained at the time of his accession to this very high rank. According to Biebuyck (in Tervuren, 1995: 381), these statues most often were inherited of a deceased parent after having been displayed on his grave. Each is associated with a specific aphorism. They "recall the virtues of the initiated past generations, they maintain rules and moral, social, lawful and philosophical norms defended by their predecessors; they are the links between the past generations and present [and constitute at last] sacra, sacred objects, fill vital force" (idem). (Sotheby's 2005)

Provenance:
Sotheby's Paris, June 6, 2005: lot 30
Collection Jenö and Rosa Studer-Koch, Zurich
Collected in 1937

Publishing History:
Arts & Cultures. Geneva. The Association of Friends of the Barbier Müller Museum, 2006.
Sotheby's Paris, African and Oceanic Art. Studer-Koch Collection. June 6, 2005: lot 30.
Miklos Szalay. Die Kunst Schwartzafrikas. Kunst und Gesellschaft. Werke aus der Sammlung des Völkerkundemuseums der Universität Zurich. Munich. Trickster Verlag, 1994: 168.