Female ancestor spirit mask "mwana phwevo" · Zambia, Luvale / Luchazi · ID: 3053526
Galerie Jahn, Munich, Germany
Lempertz, Brussels, 22 January 2013, lot 91
Description
wood, rubber hair, glass beads, plant fibres, Coll. no. “F29306”, handwritten coll. no. “44”, base
The mask represents “mwana phwevo”, a female ancestral and ideal figure associated with initiation rites.
The abundant, wig-like hair is adorned with colourful glass beads and held in place by a headscarf; a braided headband clearly separates the headdress from the face. The absence of elaborate scarification marks probably indicates the youth of the figure represented. The apparently raised eyebrows and open mouth give the face a cheerful, almost radiant expression, which may be connected to the performative role of the mask as a dancing and entertaining figure.
Although the mask has a style of its own, it shows clear affinities with masks produced in Zambia by Luchazi, Luvale, and some Mbunda carvers.
Publications
Felix, Marc L. & Manuel Jordan, Makishi Lya Zambia, München 1998, p. 162, ill. p. 163