Large ape mask · D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3040592
not available anymore
Provenance
Frank Bell, Cologne, GermanySize
H: 48 cm
H: 18.9 inch
Description
light wood, kaolin, brown pigment, rectangular box-shape with forehead ridge, protruding eyebrows and slit eyes, vertical grooves interrupted by ornamental lines, spot with applied magical mass on the forehead right hand side, rep. (vertical crack in full length at the left face rim), breakages (head), missing parts at the same place, strong abrasion of paint, water spots, base;
such zoomorphic masks developed from the classic “kifwebe” rectangular box-shape with its typical grooved pattern. The animal masks were performed in funerals of important persons and during other rites of transition and transformation.
Comparing literature
Felix, Marc L., Beauty and the beasts, Brussels 2003, ill. 99