Mask "nyibita" ·  D. R. Congo, Ngeende · ID: 3036923

Description

light brown wood, dark brown patina, remains of pigments, in the shape of an elongated, narrow triangle, oversized nose, narrow slit eyes, bonnet with feather adornment backside, min. dam., fine cracks, traces of abrasion, base;
presumably belonging to the mask type of “nyibita”. Information concerning this mask is extremely scarce. The “nyibita” mask is associated with a young warlord, and was danced at the court of the Kuba monarch.

The object Mask “nyibita” with the object ID 3036923 was last part of the auction 77th tribal art auction at June 28, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 494.

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.

Comparing literature

Herreman, Frank & Constantijn Petridis (ed.), Face of the Spirits, Tervuren 1993, p. 140 f.