Big round mask "kifwebe" ·  D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3035882

Description

wood, kaolin, red and black paint, animal hair, of hollowed round form, narrow slit eyes, entirely coated with curved concentrical grooves, old collection label backside, pierced around the rim, min. dam., small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion, base;
such masks were danced at the death of a chief or other eminent person, or when a person assumed an important political title. The etymology of “kifwebe” is “to chase away or put to flight, death”. Such a sense would be appropriate to a further context for their use: in the rituals of the “kazanzi” society, through which sorcery is confronted and eliminated from the community. Complex costumes of animal skins and raffia were worn, and the masks were danced in couples, one representing the male spirit, the other a female. One surmises that the masks were performed to mark moments of important social transition and transformation.

The object Big round mask “kifwebe” with the object ID 3035882 was last part of the auction 75th tribal art auction at November 30, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 418 achieved a sales price of EUR 13,000.

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Comparing literature

Roberts, Mary Nooter, Memory, New York 1996, p. 86 f. Nooter Roberts, Mary, Luba, Mailand 2007, ill. 21 Neyt, Francois, Luba, Aan de Bronnen van de Zaire, Paris 1994, p. 203