Although Ntambwe’s very personal style is evident in this work, produced in the context of the ‘Ateliers Indigènes de Verly’, it still lacks power. This sculptural weakness can be ascribed not only to serial production, but also to the fact that the artist lacked ritual conviction at the time that he made such pieces.

What is interesting, however, is that this object – originally intended for European buyers – attracted the attention of a local chief, who placed it for ritual use in his kibulu (house of a Pende chief). Before white people encouraged artists to produce this type of anthropomorphic statue, statues on a base were rare. They were thought to cause misfortune and were reserved for chiefs or the ritual bearers of talking sticks. The production of numerous similar objects in Ntambwe’s studio indicates that with the emergence of ‘modernity’, these anthropomorphic statues gradually lost their menacing nature.