Mask "lukungu" · D. R. Congo, Lega · ID: 3035655
sold
EUR 1,800
Provenance
Jean-Pierre Lepage, Brussels, Belgium (around 1970)Pierre Bergé, Brussels, 9 december 2009, lot 42
American Private Collection, New Jersey
Size
H: 15 cm
H: 5.9 inch
Description
ivory, honey brown patina, tribe-typical circle ornaments with central drilling, the mouth is not depicted, min. dam., fine cracks, small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion;
late style;
“lukungu” masks belong to members of “bwami”- society who already have reached the highest level of “kindi”. “Lukungu” means “skull” and should be a hint that the mask is thought to remind of deceased “kindi” members. At initiation ceremonies they were oiled and then displayed on a kind of fence or attached to bigger “muminia” or “idimu” masks.