Object Name: Pendant
Mikisi Mihasi
Cultural Group: Luba peoples
Place of Origin: Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date: 18th-19th century
Materials Used: Hippopotamus tusk
Dimensions: H: 10.0 cm, D: 3.0 cm, W: 5.5 cm (H: 3.9 in, D: 1.2 in, W: 2.2 in)
Credit line and Accession Number: The Jerome L. Joss Collection. X87.1321

A number of Central African peoples make and wear elegant ivory pendants and combs as prestige items. Pende ornaments depicting a human face are worn around the neck and are prized for their coolness and whiteness. Luba made sculptures from ivory, bone, and horn to honor the memory of particular ancestors and attached their pendants to a cord or belt with other amulets, beads, and horns, which they wore diagonally across the torso.

Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives.