Pende (Bapende, Phende, Pindi, Pinji), Democratic Republic of the Congo

Door Plaque. Some 500,000 Pende, who are mostly farmers, have no centralized ruling. They form about sixty little kingdoms, each comprising several clans and each headed by a chief whose principal function is religious mediation with the ancestors. Their kinship system is matrilineal. Young men are organized into age groups and pass through initiation stages, including circumcision at adolescence. This plaque is decorated with a figure of the male ancestor who stands out against a panel with white triangles design. Such artistic plaques were used to decorate the doors to a chief’s hut. Traditionally, they present a male or a female figure, or a crocodile.

Material:  wood

Size:  20”x5”x3”