Chokwe Standing Dance Figure Angola

This well-carved female figure comes from the Chokwe. The Chokwe share stylistic elements with several distinct but related peoples in Angola and the Congo. The most prominent of these peoples are the Chokwe but also include the Ovimbundu, Lunda, Lwena, Luvala, Minungu, Mbwela, Songo and Imbangala. This is an area that has shared stylistic elements and figural forms based upon common mythologies and ritual practices possibly showing influences of Tabwa or Luba sculptural styles. Figures such as this could be found among a number of these groups and at the same time she may indeed not come from this large constellation of differing peoples but from a neighboring group influenced by them.

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