NAVIGATION

Elephant hunting was a dangerous exercise requiring special skills and involving ritual observances and in the 19th Century the Kuba had an association to control the local trade in ivory and to help insure the success of the hunt. The successful hunter was recognised and had the right to wear special talismanic necklaces. His wife would also display his prowess by using an ivory tusk as a pounder in food preparation. These pestles are worn from years of use and speak of the former importance of elephant hunting to the Kuba, and of the relationship between the hunter’s success and the display of status-imbued objects.