Round mask "kifwebe", around 1910/20 · D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3040971
sold
EUR 500
Provenance
Dirk Vonck, Brussels, BelgiumHans Reinmöller, Ratingen, Germany (1994)
Size
D: 27 cm
D: 10.6 inch
Description
light wood, blackish brown patina, drilled eye holes, covered with grooves in concentrical semi circles symmetrically arranged on both face halves, slightly dam., minor missing parts and scratches, abrasion of paint, traces of old age;
such masks were performed in funerals of important persons and during other rites of transition and transformation. The etymology of “kifwebe” , the name of a spirit, is to chase away, or put to flight, death.
Comparing literature
Volper, Julien, Autour de Songye, Montreuil 2012, p. 108, ill. 45 Roberts, Mary Nooter, Memory, New York 1996, p. 87, ill. 32