Wooden figures from the Kongo Kingdom are well known. These four examples from the mid-19th to early-20th centuries were carved for and used by people who enjoyed social and political prestige. Each figure adopts a different posture. The mother carrying a child atop the pestle kneels in supplication, enacting a posture widely represented throughout the kingdom. The man on top of the flywhisk sports a suit based on European types and sits upon a stool. The upward turn of his hands and eyes are like those of the man upon the flask, who appears made-an oddity in Kongo art. So too is his posture, with legs dangling downward. The figure atop the leader's staff sits cross-legged with hands bound at back to suggest enslavement-a rare but not unusual position, particularly in the context of court art. Facial features vary greatly, indicating the figures were made in different regions of this vast kingdom.