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Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). <em>Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)</em>, 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_threequarter_PS2.jpg)
Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey), 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_threequarter_PS2.jpg)
Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). <em>Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)</em>, 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_threequarter_PS2.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey), 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_threequarter_PS2.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). <em>Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)</em>, 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.56.6.37_print_threequarter_bw.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey), 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.56.6.37_print_threequarter_bw.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). <em>Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)</em>, 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_profileleft_PS2.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey), 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_profileleft_PS2.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). <em>Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)</em>, 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_profileright_PS2.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey), 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_profileright_PS2.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). <em>Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)</em>, 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_SL1.jpg)

Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey), 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_SL1.jpg)

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Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)

Arts of Africa

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.
CULTURE Kuba (Bushoong subgroup)
MEDIUM Wood
  • Place Made: Lulua Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
    • DATES 19th century
    DIMENSIONS 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
    ACCESSION NUMBER 56.6.37
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Wood, highly polished surface, in form of a kneeling man holding chin and stomach, scars on upper thighs, crosshatched hair dress, short torso, protruding chin and mouth, handle on back. CONDITION: Good.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey), 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_threequarter_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE threequarter, 56.6.37_threequarter_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    Kuba (Bushoong subgroup). <em>Palm Wine Cup (Mbwoongntey)</em>, 19th century. Wood, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (21.6 x 11.4 x 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.37. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.6.37_threequarter_PS2.jpg)

    TAGS

    cup
    wood
    kneeling
    face
    carved
    vessel
    Mbwoongntey
    Palm Wine Cup
    Bushoong Kuba
    Congo
    brown
    nose
    mouth
    eyes
    hand
    wine
    african

    TAGS

    cup
    wood
    kneeling
    face
    carved
    vessel
    Mbwoongntey
    Palm Wine Cup
    Bushoong Kuba
    Congo
    brown
    nose
    mouth
    eyes
    hand
    wine
    african

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