Ndop (Kuba)
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Ndop were figurative sculptures representing different kings (''nyim'') of the
Kuba kingdom The Kuba Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Bakuba or Bushongo, is a traditional kingdom in Central Africa. The Kuba Kingdom flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries in the region bordered by the Sankuru River, Sankuru, Lulua Rive ...
.


Image of individual kings

Although the sculptural genre appears naturalistic, ''ndop'' are not actual one-to-one representations of particular subjects, but rather a culmination of visual notations that represented the ideal characteristics of the deceased king. The reign of individual rulers are identified by a small emblem, called an , at the base of the sculpture. Each is rendered with a great degree of customization and personalization in an otherwise formal and naturalistic standardization. Measuring about 48-55 centimeters in height, ''ndop'' were carved in hardwood and anointed with
palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...
to protect them from insects, which is unique in African art and underscores their survival in Western collections today. Ndop sculptures depict subjects sitting
cross-legged Sitting is a basic action and resting position in which the body weight is supported primarily by the bony ischial tuberosities with the buttocks in contact with the ground or a horizontal surface such as a chair seat, instead of by the lower ...
, a posture that is equally unique in African sculpture.


Description

''Ndop'' frequently portray the ruler carrying a weapon in his left hand, an ikul or peace knife, made in the style reserved for the Bushoong, the dominant sub-group of the Kuba. The wooden portraits were kept in the king's quarters with other sculptures referred to as 'royal charms', upon which the king's magical powers rested. When the king was absent from the capital, the ndop were rubbed with oil. Scholars agree that the tradition of the king's "portrait statue" was begun in the late eighteenth century.


Materials and methods of construction

To create the distinct round contours of this sculpture, the sculptor primarily worked with an
adze An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...
, which has a wooden handle to which a metal blade is attached at an acute angle. Knives and a burnisher were also used. Kuba carvers demonstrated fine hand and eye coordination to bring out details with the combination of these tools. In addition to the naturalistic shape of the facial features and body parts, the sculptor reproduces realistic detail on the body, including the collarbones and outline of the lips. The durable hardwood and the palm oil anointments underscore the longevity of these works, the earliest examples of which, such as the ndop in the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
’s collection, are among the oldest surviving wood works from the continent. Three wooden ndop figures from the Kuba kingdom currently reside in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
. Collected by the Hungarian explorer
Emil Torday Emil Torday (22 June 1875 – 9 May 1931), was a Hungarian anthropologist. He was the father of the romance novelist Ursula Torday. Biography Emil Torday was born on 22 June 1875 in Budapest. He studied at the University of Munich, but withou ...
, one of them is estimated to date back to the eighteenth century, making it one of the oldest wooden sculptures extant from
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...
. Two similar figures are in the
Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) (; ; ), communicating under the name AfricaMuseum since 2018, is an ethnography and natural history museum situated in Tervuren in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, just outside Brussels. It was originally b ...
in Belgium.


Functions of the

After the rites of
investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian kn ...
were completed, it is said that the ''nyim'' commissioned a sculptor to sculpt his likeness in the form of the ''ndop''. Only one ndop could be made for a king, and if he was not present it could not be sculpted. If the figure decayed over time, it was permissible to sculpt an exact replica. As a site of the king's life force after death, it was believed that the ''ndop'' supposedly housed the ''nyim's'' double, the counterpart of his soul. It was believed that if anything happened to the king, it would be reflected in the ''ndop''. For example, if a king were to be wounded in battle, a similar wound would appear on the ''ndop'' sculpture. The statue was kept in the women's quarters, and when a woman of the harem was about to give birth, it was placed near her to insure a safe delivery. In the absence of the king it served as a surrogate, which women of the court would anoint and stroke. After his death, the ndop was removed to a storage room and taken out to be exhibited only on certain occasions.


References

{{Reflist Kuba art