During the 18th century, the Hemba people, led by their chief Niembo, migrated from the southwest and settled on the right bank of the Lualaba River, in a region of fertile savannah. Today, they number 80,000 and are divided into large clans which, by definition, are families with a common ancestor. The hereditary chief of each clan is called the Fumu Mwalo and is the keeper of the ancestor figures. He renders justice and his status as clan head means that he has the privilege of receiving numerous gifts. The Hemba live mostly form farming manioc, sesame, yams, and beans. Secret societies such as Bukazanzi for the men and Bukibilo for the women counterbalance the Fumu Mwalo's power.
Until the 1970s hardly any Hemba figures had entered Western collections. Because they share some stylistic features with Luba figures, they had not been recognized as being significant in their own right, and had been included into the Luba corpus of sculpture. Then, in the mid 1970s several dozen statues and caryatid stools were collected in Africa and bought to Europe. When viewed en masse, it became apparent that these figures constituted a distinct tribal style. In 1975, research conducted by Francois Neyt established that these sculptures had been produced by the Hemba people. Their corpus principally includes ancestor figures and a few masks.
