Lot Essay
Biebuyck (1973, Pl.63) illustrates a very similar figure he collected from the Beiamunsange clan in the Beia sector, Pangi territory, where it was used in musagi and lutumbo lwa kindi rites, kept in a mutulwa basket. He describes how the basket, with its contents, is an expression of the unity and autonomy of the ritual community. The key aphorism referring to the figure states "I used to love you; fondling destroys good ones; it has destroyed Katanda." The figurine represents Katanda. Although literally meaning "mat", the term also connotes "something bad"; a wild dispersal of red ants, for example, is referred to as katanda ke ibazi. The holes in the body of the figure suggest the dispersal of ants and signify evil. The statue is used in a context of human figurines and other objects to stress the positive and negative aspects of the bwami code of ethics.