House Plaque

Among these intermingling shapes and forms, a tangle of hornbills surrounds a figure whose conical headdress indicates his ancestral status. The panel’s bright colors suggest the vibrancy and magnificence of the ancestors. A group of young initiates would have seen this panel, likely representing a mythological subject, toward the end of the initiation cycle when they were authorized to enter the initiation house. There, the initiates would encounter a succession of rooms holding sculptures and musical instruments. This panel appeared with others in the final room, where the initiates would connect their imagery with mythological histories.