Face mask "ngady amwaash"
D. R. Congo, Kuba-Bushoong
sold
EUR 3,000
Provenance
Charles Courtin (✝ 1954), Antwerp, Belgium
Courtin stayed in the Congo from 1904 to 1908. During this period, he created etchings that primarily document the elaborate scarification and hairstyles of the local population.
Size
H: 35 cm
H: 13.8 inch
Description
wood, colour pigments, plant fibre, glass beads,
Nice detail: the ears of the mask are worked separately and attached to the plant fibre bonnet.
“Ngady amwaash” represents the sister and wife of “woot”, the ancestral king of the Bushoong, who is personified by “mwaash amboy”.
The two masks perform together at funeral ceremonies, initiation rituals or rituals involving the sacred king “nyim”. The masked dancers re-enact the creation myth of the Bushoong.