An ikhoko pendant representing the mbuya jia kifutshi mask of the muyombo type. The muyombo dance mask depicts a portrait of the deceased lying face up, so these masks were worn horizontally during dances. What at first glance appears to be a long beard with engraved motifs, here adorned with two circled dots characteristic of these pende ivory productions, is in fact a stylization of the recumbent's body, not a beard. Gikhoko pendants are undoubtedly insider emblems, but also objects with a protective and therapeutic role. Given or transmitted to the initiate at the end of the mukanda circumcision initiation ritual, this charm also symbolizes the transmission of the vital principle of a deceased person to one of his descendants in a matrilineal lineage. In other words, the granting or transmission of the pendant not only marked the passage of the young initiate to adulthood, but also completed a process by which a maternal uncle was "reincarnated" into one of his uterine nephews. The mukanda ritual declined sharply in Pende country from 1931 onwards, when a revolt against forced labor and higher taxes broke out, and was severely repressed by the Belgian colonial administration. Pende, Democratic Republic of Congo Ivory, nice old oxidation of the ivory, nice patina of use H. 7 cm See for other gikhoko (among other publications) pp. 82-87 in Treasures 2008, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Ed. Migs Grove, 2008. See for other ikhoko specimens and concerning the Mukanda p. 63 to 72 in: Initiés Bassin du Congo, Musée Dapper, Ed. Dapper 2013. Provenance: Jean Roudillon Collection