Face mask "eluba" or "emangungu"
D. R. Congo, Bembe
not available anymore
Provenance
Cornelis Pieter Meulendijk, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsChristie’s Amsterdam, 12./13. September 1984, lot 19
Loed van Bussel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Erik Johann Schwarze, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Size
H: 37,5 cm
H: 14.8 inch
Description
wood, middle brown patina, black paint, kaolin with shiny particles, nearly rectangular plankboard mask, carved with a stylized anthropo-zoomorphic face with coffee-bean shaped eyes in white oval planes, small tubular mouth, incised ornaments, slightly dam. (eyes);
present “emangungu” mask type is used at circumcision rites by the “butende bwa eluba” society. The eyes should remind on an owl, which is said to have close connections to the spirits of nature. The masks are attached to a costume of banana leaves and bark. They are worn by initiated boys while begging for food in the village during the seclusion period.