Anthropomorphic mask "mbuya" · D. R. Congo, Pende · ID: 3052572
Starting price
EUR 2,500
Estimated price
EUR 4,000
Provenance
Michel Gaud, Saint Tropez, FranceSize
H: 25 cm
H: 9.8 inch
Description
wood, pigments, raffia, base
The Pende use dance masks “mbuya”, which appear during non-ritual festivities to entertain the village community.
The mask figures represent different characters and role models of Pende society. There are embodiments of chiefs (“fumu”), wise old men with long beards (“giwoyo” or “muyombo”), executioners (“pumbu”), fortune tellers (“nganga ngombo”) and bewitched persons “mbangu”, up to representations of clowns “tundu” and prostitutes “ngobo”.