Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Knife Handle: Standing Female Captive
Not on view
Costly ivory finials were carved as handles for prestigious items of regalia and ceremonial implements commissioned by Kongo elites. Some finials feature regal female subjects as captives. The sharp sword of the king’s executioner (mbalaya makanda) was documented as part of the venerated insignia of chieftaincy at Nganda Nsundi during the 1930s. Its carved figurative handle, like this related example, featured a woman with long hair and hands bound behind her who was said to be guilty of adultery and sentenced to be executed.
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