240807 - Rare & Old African Mongo sculpture - Congo.

Congo: Rare & Old African Mongo sculpture.
Height: 46 cm.
This item is made in the mid of the 20th century and purchased in my private collection in 2001, with a certificate of authenticity.The Mongo people are an ethnic group who live in the equatorial forest of Central Africa. They are the largest ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, highly influential in its north region. The Mongo people are a diverse collection of sub-ethnic groups who are referred to as AnaMongo. The Mongo (Anamongo) subgroups include the Mongo, Batetela, Bakusu (Benya Samba/ Benya lubunda), Ekonda, Bolia, Nkundo, Lokele, Topoke, Iyadjima, Ngando, Ndengese, Sengele, Sakata, Mpama, Ntomba, Mbole. The Mongo (Anamongo) occupy 14 provinces particularly the province of Equateur, Tshopo, Tshuapa, Mongala, Kwilu, in Maï Ndombe, Kongo-Centrale, in Kasai, in Sankuru, Maniema, North Kivu and South Kivu, Tanganiyka (Katanga) and Ituri province. Their highest presence is in the province of Équateur and the northern parts of the Bandundu Province (Maï Ndombe). The Mongo people, despite their diversity, share a common legend wherein they believe that they are the descendants of a single ancestor named Mongo. Historically the term “Bangala” had been imposed on the Mongo people to such consistency various groups of Mongo origin accept this term without regard to the historical origins of the term “Bangala.” Political scientist M. Crawford Young has written that the term "Bangala" is an artificial construct rather than a natural sociographic grouping. Mongo people also share similarities in their language and social organization, but also have differences. Anthropologists first proposed the Mongo unity as an ethnic group in 1938 particularly by Boelaert, followed by a major corpus on Mongo people in 1944 by Vanderkerken – then the governor of Équateur