Female face mask "mbuya" · D. R. Congo, Pende · ID: 3037044
Description
wood, the facial plane dyed with red pigment, accents in black paint and kaolin, raffia bast bonnet, hairdo with black plant fibre, horn in the parting, slightly dam., missing parts (teeth), water spots;
simply called “the female mask” or “gambanda”. It dresses like the beautiful young girl liable to become the trophy wife of a high-status male. The female mask dances to the rhythms of comtemporary popular dances and performs little comedies with a mirror and comb to suggest her vanity and preoccupation with appearance.
The object Female face mask “mbuya” with the object ID 3037044 was last part of the auction 77th tribal art auction at June 28, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 503.
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Comparing literature
Strother, Z.S., Inventing masks, Chicago 1998, 217 ff.