Mask "ndeemba" · D. R. Congo, Yaka · ID: 3046176
Max Willborg, Stockholm, Sweden (1979)
Berndt Helleberg, Stockholm, Sweden
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels, Belgium
Alex Arthur, Brussels, Belgium
Description
wood, plant fibre, fabric, pigments, base
The small mask face is worked on paddle shaped handle. The bonnet is made of extremely fine woven fibre with five cone-shaped projections.
The mask was used in context of initiation “mukhanda”, that includes circumcision rituals. To mark the end of the educational period, festivities are held in which the initiates perform with newly carved masks. The dance of the masks is accompanied by chants confirming the male supremacy and the social rank of the young men.
The object Mask “ndeemba” with the object ID 3046176 was last part of the auction 93rd Tribal Art Auction at November 16, 2019 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 316.
You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.
Publications
Bourgeois, Arthur: "Of Noses and Penises", Masculine Imagery among the Yaka of Southwestern Congo, in: Tribal Art Magazine XV:3 - no 60, Summer 2011, p. 109, Fig. 15
AHDRC: 0146555