Big "sachihongo" mask · Zambia, Mbunda · ID: 3041888
not available anymore
Provenance
Daniel Denoyez, Windhoek, Namibia (collected in situ in the 1960’s)Size
B: 68 cm
H: 38 cm
B: 26.8 inch
H: 15.0 inch
Description
wood, brown patina, red pigment, extremely broad in shape, characteristic features: eyebrows in concentrical grooves, vertical forehead/nose ridge, bulging cheeks, slightly dam. (nose), missing parts along the rim and backside, cracks (right eye), abrasion of paint;
“sachihongo” has been described as the incarnation of a hunter and/or diviner, but probably represents a chiefly ancestral character. The masks appear after the circumcision of young boys, during times of convalescence in the bush camps. The mask is completed by a crown of feathers, fiber beard and a net suit, made of the fibers of the “mushamba” tree.
Comparing literature
Felix, Marc L. & Manuel Jordan, Makishi Lya Zambia, München 1998, p. 223 ff.