Anthropomorphic bell mask "tshimwana" · D. R. Congo, Biombo · ID: 3032265
Eduard Hess, Basel, Switzerland (1972)
Description
wood, dyed with red pigment, kaolin and greyish brown patina, abundant grass fibre cuff, nose bridge and brows accentuated with nails, band ornaments with triangular deepenings, sackcloth bonnet, slightly dam., small place of rep.;
the Biombo live at the confluence of the Lulua and Kasai Rivers. Their culture is strongly similar to that of the Kete and the Bushoong. Just as the “bwoom” mask of the Kuba the “tshimwana” mask too has a bell shape. The facial decoration with geometric patterning in its turn refers to the Kasai-Pende. The “tshimwana” mask is female and it appears together with other masks at initiation and funerary rituals.
Comparing literature
Herreman, Frank, Petridis, Constantijn (ed.), Face of the Spirits, Tervuren 1993, ill. 58 Himmelheber, Hans, Negerkunst und Negerkünstler, Würzburg 1960, p. 353 f.