Pendant

Ivory pendants like this one are carved by professional sculptors and worn around the neck as body decorations, typically attached with cords or strings of beads. Although the pendants were initially chiseled with the same highly refined features as Luba wood sculptures, the details and decorative embellishments have been blurred over time through daily washing with water and abrasive sands, evident in the smooth qualities and lack of facial topographies. The object is pierced at the shoulders—indicating where the attachment cord would have been thread—and depicts a woman with a spherical head, tied coiffure, a raised button mouth, a triangular nose, and hands holding her breasts. The glossy caramel patina is the result of the ivory’s interaction with bodily oils on the skin.