A beautiful old three-pronged Yisanuna comb, featuring a sculpted head with a large upturned nose, typical of Yaka art, and in particular of certain initiation masks with woven raffia hairstyles marking the passage to adulthood. Such combs or hairpins, with two, three or four branches, were worn as ornaments by Yaka notables. See pp. 60-65 for comparable combs in Art of The Yaka and Suku, Bourgeois, 1984. Yaka, Democratic Republic of Congo 19th or early 20th century Wood, old blond patina. H. 18 cm Provenance : Monsieur V. Collection, Brussels, probably acquired on the Belgian market