than that prescribed by Kongo elites (fig. 19).18 Across the range of Kongo principalities and chieftaincies several key items of regalia were bestowed upon Kongo leaders during investiture ceremonies. One of these was a prestige cap known as mpu, made of knotted pineapple or raffia leaf fiber. Mpu conferred on the most influential leaders were further enhanced through the addition of leopard claws as crowning elements for their association with one of the most powerful representatives of the animal world (fig. 20). The other essential attribute of a political office and the higher power vested in it was that of an elaborate customized staff. The subject matter of the figurative finials of these, often carved from costly ivory, may have been selected on the basis of the source of a particular leader’s authority over his subjects. While the choice of imagery encompassed seated leaders, Saint Anthony of Padua, and a range of zoomorphic creatures, the most sublime of these are female figures in attitudes of devotion (figs. 21, 23, 24). One-to-one associations between surviving works—often in the fragmentary form of the detached miniature finial sculptures—and their original offices have rarely been recorded. Unusual exceptions are the wood staff encased in metalwork (fig. 25) owned by the Kongo King Henrique III Mpanzu a Nsindi a Nimi a Lukeni (r. 1842–1857) and the praying female figure that was the signature attribute of the paramount chieftaincy of Nemlão (c. 1788–1888) in the region of Banana (figs. 24, 26). Kongo Female Power The devastating impact of the transatlantic slave trade and the onslaught of colonialism by European powers radically depleted Kongo communities. In a society that valued human capital above all else, and in which one’s standing was measured in terms of the number of one’s dependents, a woman’s potential to act as a vessel for life was revered. In Kongo society an individual belonged to their mother’s clan and the founders of those entities were conceived of as “mother” figures. The essential role that women played in sustaining and extending their kin group was a powerful metaphor for a Kongo ideal of leadership that was mined by its artists (figs. 27, 28). Among these female depictions that underscore their critical life-giving potential were those integrated into rites relating to their coming of age and preparation to take on the role of married women. Following a young girl’s engagement she was sequestered from society within a dedicated structure that featured a bed decorated with an elaborate sculptural program. The surviv- FIG. 19 (above): Cross with Saint Anthony of Padua. Kongo peoples; Kongo Kingdom, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, or Angola. Pendant figure, 16th–18th century; cross. 19th century. Brass (solid cast), lead-tin alloy (sheet), wood. H: 32.4 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Gift of Ernst Anspach, 1999 (1999.295.14). FIG. 20 (below): Prestige cap, mpu. Kongo peoples; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; or Cabinda, Angola. 19th century. Raffia or pineapple fiber, leopard claws. H: 31.5 cm. Museu Nacional de Etnologia, Lisbon (AO.168).
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