Seated on an animal, this Bembe figure is posed as a powerful chief. The combination of a leopard's spotted fur with a horned face also suggests extraordinary forces. The pith helmet atop the figure's head is an emblem of European colonial authority that the Bembe peoples incorporated into their own set of symbols expressing rank. While not visible, spiritual power is infused by religious specialists who breathe the spirit of the ancestor-and also in this case, the animal-into holes cut into the underside of the carving.

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