Female mask "mbuya" · D. R. Congo, Pende · ID: 3043167
not available anymore
Provenance
Yves Créhalet, Paris, FranceSize
H: 24 cm/38 cm
H: 9.4 inch/15.0 inch
Description
wood, red and black paint, kaolin, ideal female physiognomy with bedroom eyes “sanze”, cap from fine raffia bast with plant fibre cords, insect caused damage, abrasion of paint, base.
Called “the female mask” or “gambanda”, resp. “kambanda”. The male dancer wears beautiful and costly clothes, bracelets and anklets - he is dressed like a 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.
Comparing literature
Strother, Z.S., Inventing masks, Chicago 1998, p. 217 ff.
Publications
AHDRC: 0150633