A Set of Five Konga Leg Adornments

In dynastic Japan and eighteenth-century France, among many other societies, pale skin functioned as a status symbol, signaling that an individual belonged to the wealthy elite who could avoid outdoor labor and sun exposure. Similarly, in some African societies, women wore adornments on the ankles or lower legs that made it difficult for them to walk. Such cumbersome prestige objects indicated that the wearer did not have to toil in the fields.

These five adornments, called konga and weighing between 4 and 8 kg each, belonged to high-status married women of the Mongo in central Democratic Republic of Congo. The Mongo form a conglomerate of related groups, and konga are usually attributed to the Nkutu and Ekonda peoples. There is some confusion about the terminology for such objects: in the older literature one finds “anklets,” but since they were worn on the calves, it is more appropriate to call them “leg adornments.” They were always worn in pairs (no such pair occurs here), with the opening usually to the front of the leg and the decorative ridges towards the back. The wearers protected their feet from getting injured by attaching cushions of cloth and leaves around the ankles (see field photo). A woman would don a pair of konga for a few months on end, and then have them removed temporarily.

The ornaments are of cast brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. In order to make them, a hollowed-out trunk was filled with clay. A flat wooden model, carved with ridges sticking out, was pressed into the clay, which could then be used as a mold for the molten metal. The hot ingot was subsequently hammered over a wooden beam to obtain the desired cylindrical shape. As can be seen on several examples, the surface was sometimes embellished with geometric engravings. Before being worn, the ornaments were polished with stone to make the brass shine. Because of the value of the material, konga were also used as currency, especially in marriage transactions.

Nkutu woman wearing konga leg adornments. Region around Boende (Equator Province), Democratic Republic of Congo. EP.0.0.3018, collection RMCA Tervuren; photo C. Lamote (Inforcongo), c. 1950 © RMCA Tervuren

Mark’s note:

Four of these anklets were collected by Ernie and Diane Wolfe in the early 1990s.  The middle one is the heaviest, and also probably the oldest.