Luba people from DRC. Function: Prestige or ceremonial spoon used during ritual banquets and community feasts. Spoons featuring anthropomorphic female figures transcend everyday utility to serve as symbols of wealth, generosity, and spiritual power. The female motif honors the sacred role of women as guardians of lineage history and receptacles for divine ancestral spirits. This wooden ceremonial spoon, showcases a finely sculpted female head decorated with a prominent, geometric cross-shaped (cruciform) coiffure featuring incised grid-like striations and deep multi-tiered carving lines on a slender dark wood column. Condition: Good aged condition with a highly polished, naturally handled dark-brown patina, demonstrating minor surface wear and small grain cracks consistent with age and ritual handling. Estimated dating of object: Mid-20th Century. Date: 20th century Dimensions: 20 x 4 x 2. Note: Stand does not convey. Condition: Good slightly used