Mask "midimu" · Tanzania, Makonde · ID: 3034623
not available anymore
Provenance
Hugo Schlicke, Hildesheim, Germany (collected between 1903 and 1914)Size
H: 18 cm
H: 7.1 inch
Description
light brown wood, reddish brown patina, black paint, remains of black mass in the area of the eyes, small moustache made from animal hair, pierced around the rim, rep. (breakage at the chin), small missing parts, traces of abrasion;
the “midimu” (“spirit”) masks appeared at the end of circumcision rites, when the young boys and girls returned from the bush camps. The masquerades fulfilled ritual as well as educational functions.
Comparing literature
Art Makondé, Tradition et modernité, Malesherbes 1989, p. 87, ill. 3