Round mask "kifwebe"
Robert Pearson, Denver, USA
George Hegarty, Denver, USA
Christie’s, November 1997
Mark Eglinton, New York, USA
Pearson began collecting African art later in his life. Spurred by the Douglas Society at the Denver Museum of Art, and his friendship with noted collector George Heggarty, he began building an enormous, eclectic collection. He loved textiles and “material culture”- things which had domestic use, like spoons, cups, stools, and chairs, as well as masks and carvings. His collection included items from more than thirty African countries, and his fine eye gave him pieces ranging from a golddust scale to huge Dogon figural ladders.
Hegarty began collecting while a Peace Corps volunteer in Sénégal in 1968 and continued during later trips to West Africa.
Description
wood, base
Such masks were apparently danced at the death of a chief or other eminent person, or when a person assumed an important political title. The etymology of “kifwebe”, “the name of the spirit”, is “to chase away” or “put to flight, death”.
According to Nooter Roberts, such a meaning would fit another context for its use: in the rituals of the “kazanzi” society, through which sorcery is confronted and eliminated from the community.
The masks were danced in couples, one representing a male spirit , the other a female. One surmises that the masks were performed to mark moments of important social transition and transformation.