TRIBAL AND PERSONAL IDEALS EMBODIED IN IVORY CARVING 

 One would scarcely expect to find in ivory figures carved by Congo cannibals the embodiment of 

 ideals. The figures, however, on the central piece, a mallet used to beat bark cloth, express, according 

 to the artist, the supreme faith of these savages in mother love. The carvings on the box at the left 

 express tlie unity of two friends. The female figure at the right is carved for the sake of beauty aloue, 

 as the Mangbetu have no idols; what appears to be a crown on the head is merely a conventionalized 

 liairdress. The two small figures below and in front are three-headed boxes, showing the trend of 

 Mangbetu ornamentation 



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