"The Hemba ancestor effigies are the expression of remarkable sculptors who worked in Shaba (Zaire/DRC).

"The Hemba statuary has appeared in the West since the 1960's; prior to that, over many centuries, they remained hidden in the shaddows of the dwellings of those populations who particularly venerated the ancestors responsible for their segment of lineage.

"These works also showed that the land had for many generations belonged to these families.

"The symbols are hidden. The four directions of the coiffure evoke the universe and the place where the spirits assemble and part. It is also in the coiffure that the hero leading the migration stores grain for cultivation."

François Neyt

Extract from: Treasures from the Africa-Museum, Tervuren

© 1995 Royal Museum for Central Africa

Hemba figure #01 • MAS | Museum aan de Stroom, Antwerp • Inv. # A.E. 864, registered in 1931 • H. 88 cm • Reproduced in Le Musée Imaginaire de la Sculpture Mondiale edited by André Malraux (NRF - La Galerie de la Pléïade, 1952), fig. 416

Hemba figure #02 • Kaboja village, Makutano region, DRC • Private collection, Brussels • H. 74 cm • Reproduced in Heroic Africans, Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures edited by Alisa LaGamma (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011), p. 252-3

Hemba figure #03 • Southern Hemba, Sayi workshop, Mahundu, Shaba, Zaire. Gift of Countess Boël; registered in 1992 • Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren • Inv. # RG 92.28.1 • H. 79 cm • Reproduced in Treasures from the Africa-Museum, Tervuren (Royal Museum for Central Africa, 1995), p. 224

Hemba figure #04 • Kalimba village, near Mbulula, DRC • Private collection • H. 55 cm • Reproduced in La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaïre edited by François Neyt (Institut Supérieur d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art - UCL - Louvain-la-Neuve, 1977), p. 276-7

Hemba figure #05 • Southern Hemba, Mbulula workshop, Shaba, Zaire. Registered in 1972 • Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren • Inv. # RG 72.1.1 • H. 58 cm • Reproduced in Treasures from the Africa-Museum, Tervuren (Royal Museum for Central Africa, 1995), p. 226-7

Hemba figure #06 • Region of Mbulula, DRC • Private collection • H. 77 cm • Reproduced in Hairstyles and Headresses edited by Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau and Iris Hahner (Musée Dapper, 2003), p. 211

Hemba figure #07 • Private collection • H. 39 cm • Reproduced in La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaïre edited by François Neyt (Institut Supérieur d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art - UCL - Louvain-la-Neuve, 1977), p. 226-7

Hemba figure #08 • Region of Mbulula, DRC • Private collection • H. 52 cm • Reproduced in La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaïre edited by François Neyt (Institut Supérieur d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art - UCL - Louvain-la-Neuve, 1977), p. 126-7

Hemba figure #09 • Private collection • H. 42 cm • Reproduced in La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaïre edited by François Neyt (Institut Supérieur d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art - UCL - Louvain-la-Neuve, 1977), p. 352

Hemba figure #10 • Private collection • H. 69 cm • Reproduced in Art and Power in the Central African Savanna edited by Constantine Petridis (The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008), p. 139

Hemba figure #11 • Private collection • H. 62,5 cm • Reproduced in Art of Africa: Treasures from the Congo edited by Joseph Cornet (Phaidon Press Ltd, 1971), p. 194-5

Hemba figure #12 • Private collection • H. 63 cm • Reproduced in Hairstyles and Headresses edited by Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau and Iris Hahner (Musée Dapper, 2003), p. 210