Female mask with labret, before 1914 · Tanzania, Lindi or Rovuma Districts, Makonde / Mwera · ID: 3047006
not available anymore
Provenance
Old German Colonial CollectionSize
H: 23 cm
H: 9.1 inch
Description
wood, pigments, old collection label “Frauenmaske (Makonde) DOA”, base
A work by the same artist was auctioned at Zemanek-Münster on 22 September 2007 (cf. AHDRC 0086531).
According to Weule (1909) masks of the Makonde represent ghosts (“midimu”). This mask is identified as female type by the lip peg “pelele”.
The masks generally appeared at the end of circumcision rites, when the young boys and girls returned from the bush camps.
The masquerades fulfilled ritual as well as educational functions.
Comparing literature
Jahn, Jens (Hg.), Tanzania, München 1994, p.434 ff.