Luba or Songye Chief's Insignia, Democratic Republic of the Congoheight 26 3/4in (68cm)ProvenanceLee and Dona Bronson Collection, Los AngelesAcquired from the above by the present ownerPublishedCornet, Joseph, A Survey of Zairian Art - The Bronson Collection, North Carolina Museum of Art, 1978, fig. 181.ExhibitedA Survey of Zairian Art:Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, 23 April - 4 June 1978; Washington D.C., Museum of African Art, 25 July - 25 September 1978; Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 14 November - 21 January 1979Cornet notes on this work (ibid., p. 319), "The object is the insignia of a lineage chief. Two fetish charges on the front and three on the back indicate its importance. The small metal stake was used to drive the insignia into the earth. The piece is difficult to classify because the headdress suggests the northern Hemba, but the eye cavities do not occur in that style. The shape of the abdomen and abundant fetish materials [now lost] are reminiscent of the Songye; however, all other characteristics would attribute it to the Bangubanu.