Anthropomorphic face mask
D. R. Congo, Bakongo-Yombe
sold
EUR 1,500
Size
H: 28 cm
H: 11.0 inch
Description
wood, cracks
This mask features particularly large, semi-circular cut-out eye openings. A striking detail is the small tongue.
A comparable mask in this respect is classified by Lehuard (Arnouville 1993, p. 790, 5.4.2.1) as “nganga diphomba,” a mask type associated with diviners. In this case, the present mask originally must have been painted with colored pigments (red, white and black) and must have had a whitened eye zone, a characteristic of this mask type, which was supposed to give clairvoyance to its wearer.