FEATURE 104 which he then worked for, about one hundred more pieces, including rare examples of Katanga pots with multiple necks. In the same decade, agronomist H. Rosy, who had traveled in the Northwest Congo, brought back 200 terracottas that the museum later acquired, as well as informative in situ photographic documentation (figs. 9 and 10). Finally, curator A. Maesen, following Maes, undertook a collecting expedition to the southeastern and southwestern areas of the Congo in the 1950s. The nearly 650 pieces he collected further enriched the MRAC’s ceramics collection. With these above-mentioned acquisitions (figs. 13– 16), as well as yet others (fig. 17), the areas of study represented in Coart and de Haulleville’s 1907 book can now be completed, and an examination of the works of certain cultures absent from their work can be presented. We hope that in the near future there will be an opportunity to present the MRAC’s ceramic collection, but while awaiting this event, what follows is a three-part preview of this national treasure. Pottery and Wickerwork Ceramics with accompanying utilitarian wickerwork were fairly widespread in the cultures of the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Primary among these were the Mongelima belibo pots, which were also made by the Ababua (fig. 18). These pots were generally equipped with a bark base and were created as receptacles for palm oil, used for cosmetic purposes. The Ababua called this unguent kambili, and they applied it to add luster to their skin and to make their hair supple (Halkin, 1911: 119–120). The long plaited lanyard of these belibo is also seen on nombe pots used for carrying water by the Bali, the Ababua’s eastern neighbors. Among the Bali, however, the lanyard was sometimes attached to the container integrally through perforations in its neck. Small pots entirely wrapped in wickerwork still existed in this same northeastern region at the beginning of the twentieth century. These ceramics appear to have been present among the Angba, who used them as receptacles for body oil or sometimes for water (fig. 19). Such “skins” for pots were not created only for small examples. The example in figure 20 from the Kisangani (formerly Stanley Falls) area demonstrates that such wickerwork wrappings were also made for larger pieces. The collector of this object was not able to provide information on how it was used, but its particular amphora-like shape and the small handle on FIG. 12 (above): Bowl. Mfunuka (?), Kwamouth region (?), DR Congo. 12 x 23 cm. Collected before 1907 and possibly before 1897. MRAC, inv. EO.0.0.3970. FIG. 13 (below): Jug. Western Songye, DR Congo. 28 x 20 cm. Collected in the early 1910s by J. Maes. MRAC, inv. EO.0.0.19287. FIG. 14 (below center): Vessel with small mouth. Mfunuka, DR Congo. 27 x 29 cm. Collected in the early 1910s by J. Maes. MRAC, inv. EO.0.0.14758. FIG. 15 (right): Water pot, mùding. Hungana, Kikwit region, DR Congo. 45 x 30 cm. Collected in the early 1950s by A. Maesen. MRAC, inv. 1953.74.3438.
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