Ceremonial Cup

The Kuba traditionally drink palm wine out of simple cups known as ‘makoph’ as a means of camaraderie and socialization between men. The usual Kuba cup is a simple beaker, often decorated with typical linear motifs. Such cups are passed down for generations, some attaining a magnificent patina, and a great sense of importance as an heirloom object.

The Kuba are a strictly hierarchical society though, with each group divided into dozens of ranks and titles that correspond to privileges and responsibilities in society. Within this context, the cup of a nobleman has to be more decorated and elaborate than that of a commoner. Additionally, if an individual reaches a high rank in Kuba society, he may have a complex cup carved to indicate immediately to his contemporaries that he is an important individual.

This piece a nobleman's cup. It is made as a figural cup with complex carving that indicates the status and wealth of the individual who owned it. The motif is a visual pun; the male figure that is the body of the cup, reaches behind to hold a standing female figure who becomes the handle, and thereby the means to hold the cup.

Interestingly, the vast majority of the cups used by the Kuba traditionally, such as this example, were actually carved by Western neighbors of the Kuba: The Lele and Wongo peoples.

Over time, as most of the old specimens of these cups were collected and sold by the original owners, the newer examples that appeared were carved by the Kuba-Bushoong themselves and are clunky and of poor workmanship.