Buffalo mask "kiyunde" ·  D. R. Congo, Tabwa · ID: 3039557

Description

light brown wood, matt dark brown patina, massive head with strong horns, encrustation with pigments inside, dam., cracks, missing parts through insect caused damage, traces of abrasion;
the mask was completed by a voluminous costume of grass fibres and animal skin. For the Tabwa the buffalo embodies an ambivalent character, gentle on the one hand, but of unpredictable aggressiveness when aggravated on the other. This is why the buffalo is associated with the rulers, on one side ensuring the well-being of the people, but on the other side well able to cause harm to them.

The object Buffalo mask “kiyunde” with the object ID 3039557 was last part of the auction 81st Tribal Art Auction at October 31, 2015 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 502 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,500.

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Comparing literature

Roberts, Allen F. & Evan M. Maurer (ed.), Tabwa, Washington D.C. 1985, p. 162 f.