Mask "midimu" ·  Tanzania, Makonde · ID: 3034623

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.

The object Mask “midimu” with the object ID 3034623 was last part of the auction 72nd tribal art auction at March 9, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 491.

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Comparing literature

Art Makondé, Tradition et modernité, Malesherbes 1989, p. 87, ill. 3