A beautiful, ancient Kalukili spoon whose highly stylized human body is a "classic" of Lega art. The handle is carved around a vertical axis in rounded relief, on either side of which are articulated geometric volumes in triangular cut-outs representing arms and legs. The ivory and bone spoons belong to the highest-ranking initiates, but also to lower-ranking kansilembo initiates who enjoy a special status assimilated to the rank of kindi when they are the organizers of circumcision rites. "Kalukili spoons are danced with, worn on the shoulder, caressed, used as cutting or scratching tools and as offensive weapons", and occasionally used to symbolically feed a mask in a rite called nkunda. It symbolizes perennity and continuity, of that which is transmitted, "which passes from hand to hand, from generation to generation, a 'thing' that must neither be lost nor destroyed". This ivory kalukili with its light-blond patina can be compared with another spoon reproduced under no. 78 in Daniel Biebuyck's B41 La Sculpture des Lega, catalog of the Galerie Leloup exhibition in 1994. See: concerning Kalukili spoons, p. 196 in Lega Éthique et Beauté au coeur de l'Afrique, Daniel Biebuyck, KBC, 2002. Lega, Democratic Republic of the Congo 19th or early 20th century Elephant ivory, very fine old patina. H. 13.2 cm Provenance : Acquired between 1956 and 1957 by Mr. V., territorial administrator in Maniema between 1952 and 1959