Luluwa Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Paul Timmermans, Brussels
Aaron Furman, New York, acquired from the above in 1964
Sotheby's New York, May 8, 1989, lot 74
Private Collection, New York, acquired at the above auction

The Luluwa people live in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, along both shores of the Luluwa River in the north and the Kasai River in the west. Situated between the empires of the Luba (East), Chokwe (South), and Kuba/Kete (North), the Luluwa received significant cultural impulses from their neighbors which they converted into a highly sophisticated culture of their own. The name Luluwa covers a number of subgroups whose languages are variants of Chiluba, the language spoken by the Luba people. According to Petridis (2009: 119-122), the Luluwa "are said to have had their origin in Katanga Province in southeastern Congo, emigrating in successive waves between the 17th and 18th centuries."