Mask "mbuya"

Description

light brown wood, brown patina, kaolin, black paint, elaborate raffia bast bonnet, characteristic: horizontal brows and eyes with nearly closed lids, incised tattoos on the cheeks, pierced around the rim, min. dam., traces of abrasion;
circumcision and initiation are mandatory for young men and culminate with some maskers representing village character types, in more than 15 different forms, all called “mbuya”: including the mad man “tundu”, the prostitute “ngobo”, the young flirt “gabuku”, the diviner “nganga”, the long-bearded man “kiwoyo-muyombo” and the chief’s mask “phumbu”.