Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)

For centuries among the Kuba, personal status has been indicated through finely designed objects. Even ordinary utilitarian objects such as drinking cups for palm wine may indicate wealth and status through elegant carvings and decorations. Frequently, cups intended for use by rulers are carved in the form of a human head with a distinctive hairstyle associated only with royalty. Far more rare are cups such as this one, carved with full figures.