Mask "kholuka" ·  D. R. Congo, Yaka · ID: 3037456

Description

small wooden mask face, embedded in abundant grass fibre cuff, rattan bonnet coated with cloth, supporting a phantastic pagoda-like superstructure with a seated human figure and a reptile, wood and cloth dyed with polychrome pigments, min. dam., cracks, small missing parts, traces of abrasion;
was used in context of circumcision rituals. They were reserved for the carers of the initiands. Their appearance shows the end of the seclusion time. The dance of the masks is accompanied by chants confirming the male supremacy and the social rank of the young men.

The object Mask “kholuka” with the object ID 3037456 was last part of the auction 78th tribal art auction at October 18, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 513 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,000.

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Comparing literature

Bourgeois, Arthur P., Art of the Yaka and Suku, Paris 1984, p. 178