Box

Accession Number
1985/1.162B

Title
Box

Artist(s)
Kuba

Artist Nationality
Kuba (Democratic Republic of Congo style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1930

Medium & Support
wood and tukula powder

Dimensions
6 1/2 in (16.5 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase made possible by the Friends of the Museum of Art

Subject matter
Kuba boxes served several purposes. Ornately decorated boxes were created as a form of competition among titled court members. Also, they were often used to hold objects such as razors for cutting raffia and personal care objects such as hairpins, in addition to various ritual objects and medicinal substances.

This box contains tukula powder called tool or twool. Made from ground camwood, tukula is used abundantly on Kuba carvings. It was also smeared on clothing and used in times of mourning. Boxes were often used to hold tukula powder.

The diamond pattern on the sides of this box are created through a repetitive interlocking of lines. A double crossing can possibly be considered a reference to Woot, the mythical founder of the Kuba, whose mother invented mat weaving.

References:
Daniel Biebuyck, The Arts of Zaire, 1985
Georges Meurant, African Textiles from the Kingdom of Kuba, 1986
Roy Sieber, African Textiles and Decorative Arts, 1972
Jan Vansina, The Children of Woot, 1978

Physical Description
Cylindrical vessel with a squared base. The sides of the vessel are engraved with a diamond pattern consisting of repetitive interlocking lines. The vessel is open and contains red powder.

Primary Object Classification
Wood and Woodcarving

Primary Object Type
box

Collection Area
African

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
basket
camwood (wood)
carvings (visual works)
covers
geometric motifs
prestige

& Author Notes

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