Mask dancer ·  D. R. Congo, Songye · ID: 3042612

Description

wood, kaolin, black and brown pigment, separate worked arms, netted costume, animal skin loincloth, wearing a “kifwebe” mask in male form “kilume” with high crest, provided with typical facial features and striped decor in black and white, abundant plant fibre cuff around the neck, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion, base.
Such masked figures were sometimes used for instructional purposes. It may also have had a protective function for the mask wearer and was kept in his home to hold the spirit of the large mask when it was in use.

The object Mask dancer with the object ID 3042612 was last part of the auction 87th Tribal Art Auction at November 11, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 465.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.