Ndop (portrait figure) of King Mishe miShyaang maMbu


Ndop (portrait figure) of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul. Kuba peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. 1760–1780 C.E. Wood.

  • During the first half of the eighteenth century, the Kuba King Mishe miShyaang maMbul was celebrated throughout his kingdom for his generosity by a  great number of his loyal subjects. 
  • At the height of his reign in 1710, he commissioned an idealized portrait-statue called an ndop. With the commission of his ndop, Mishe miShyaang maMbul recorded his reign for posterity and solidified his accomplishments amongst the pantheon of his predecessors. The ndop that portrayed his likeness. 
  • frican sculptures served as important historical markers within their communities. The ndop sculptural record helps freeze a moment in time that would otherwise be transformed during its transmission from generation to generation.
  • Since information and history was transferred orally in Africa, sculptural traditions like the ndop can help us gain insight into information about historical individuals and their cultural ideals.
  • The Kuba are renowned for a dynamic artistic legacy across media. Historically, Kuba artists were professional woodcarvers, blacksmiths, and weavers who worked exclusively for the nyim (their ruler.) 
  • Kuba artists learned their art by becoming apprentices. 
  • The ndop statues might be the the most revered of all Kuba art forms.
  • They are not actually created from direct observation. Instead, cultural conventions and visual precedents guide the artists in making the sculpture. 
  • Ndop sculpture have rounded contours creating forms that define the head, shoulders and stomach. 
  • The expression on the face, the position of the body, and the regalia were meant to faithfully represent the ideal of a king, but not one in particular. 
  • The facial features of each statue follow sculpting conventions and do not represent features of a specific individual.
  • Kuba artists emphasized the head because it was considered to be the seat of intelligence, a valued ideal.
  • All ndop sculpture would feature a geometric motif and an emblem (ibol),  chosen by the nyim when he was installed as a leader and commissioned his ndop. 
  • A drum with a severed hand is the ibol for Mishe miShyaang maMbul’s reign, and that helps us identify the sculpture as his likeness.
  • Left hand grasping the handle of a ceremonial knife (ikul) and the right hand resting on the knee. 
  • Royal regalia: belts, armbands, bracelets, shoulder ornaments, and a unique projecting headdress, called a shody. 
  • The ndop of Mishe miShyaang maMbul is part of a larger genre of figurative wood sculpture in Kuba art. These sculptures were commissioned by Kuba leaders or nyim to preserve  their accomplishments for posterity. Because transmission of knowledge in this part of Africa is through oral narrative, names and histories of the past are often lost. The ndop sculptures serve as important markers of cultural ideals. 
  • Images reveal a chronological lineage through their visual signifiers.
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