Mask "mbuya" · D. R. Congo, Pende · ID: 3042609
Description
wood, reddish brown patina, black paint, kaolin, bonnet and remains of a costume form raffia bast, hairdo with dark plant fibre, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion, base.
Mask type called “the female mask” or “gambanda”. The dancer dresses like a beautiful young girl liable to become the trophy wife of a high-status male. The female mask dances to the rhythms of comtemporary popular dances and performs little comedies with a mirror and comb to suggest her vanity and preoccupation with appearance.
The object Mask “mbuya” with the object ID 3042609 was last part of the auction 87th Tribal Art Auction at November 11, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 447.
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Comparing literature
Strother, Z.S., Inventing masks, Chicago 1998, 217 ff.