Accession Number
2005/1.203

Title
Comb

Artist(s)
Lwena

Artist Nationality
Lwena

Object Creation Date
circa 1880

Medium & Support
wood

Dimensions
6 5/16 in x 2 in x 1 5/16 in (16.03 cm x 5.08 cm x 3.33 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Candis and Helmut Stern

Subject matter
This finely carved, large-toothed wooden comb (cisakulo) with an anthropomorphic support is attributed to the Lwena, who live in Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are closely related to the neighboring Chokwe and Lunda peoples. The purpose of combs such as this one is, of course, primarily utilitarian: to provide a firm grip on hair needed to create an elaborate coiffure.  The ownership and use of combs cuts across social rank and gender, and decorative ones can certainly be considered a form of personal art. What is paramount in decorative combs are the motifs and specific imagery carved on them which hold a special symbolic and iconographic significance to their owners.

According to art historian Niangi Batulukisi, the particularly elegant carving of this comb distinguishes it as a “glamorous accessory” and “ostentatious object that is usually reserved for nobility” (100). Its head represents a guardian spirit or hamba (plural, mahamba) who serves as an intermediary with the creator god and is responsible for imparting protection, fertility, and prosperity to its possessor.  The comb's stylistic features such as its fine geometric pattern and sensitively carved face bear striking similarities to Chokwe combs. Ultimately, this comb can be regarded as both a beautifying object and an object of beauty in its own right.  

References:
African Form and Imagery:  Detroit Collects.  Ed. Judith A. Ruskin.  Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts Founders Society, 1996.  
Maurer, Evan M. and Niangi Batulukisi.  Spirits Embodied:  Art of the Congo, Selections from the Helmut F. Stern Collection.  Minneapolis:  The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1999.

Physical Description
This wooden comb, or cisakulo, is composed of six long teeth and an anthropomorphic support. Its handle includes a rectangular section with multiple bands of diagonal, incised lines. This section along with the teeth of the comb visually form an abstracted body for the delicately carved head, which sits atop the handle. These lined motifs as well as the fine facial features are similar to those found in the figural carvings of the neighboring Chokwe; the striated turbanesque coiffure, however, is distinctly characteristic of the Lwena style.

Primary Object Classification
Personal Accessory

Primary Object Type
comb

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
beautification
beauty
combs (hair ornaments)
hairstyling
heads (representations)
personal accessories
prestige
utilitarian objects