Mask "kakuungu" or "kazeba" · D. R. Congo, Yaka/Suku · ID: 3040508
Description
wood, greyish brown patina, significant face with voluminous inflated cheeks, face halves alternately dyed with red, resp. white pigment, entirely framed by plant fibre, small magical packages fixed on both sides of the face, small pointed mouth with central drilling, supporting handle beneath the chin, inscribed on the backside “541”, slightly dam., minor missing parts, cracks (head), abrasion of paint, base;
masks “kakuungu” and “kazeba” (male/female version) are danced at “nkhanda” initiation by the Suku and the Yaka peoples. The masks are worn and owned by the initiation charm specialist “isidika”. Essentially it is a terrorizing mask intended to prevent witches, the “baloki” from entering the camp and causing harm to the initiates. For this purpose the mask was often kept in a special shelter near the initiation site.
L’objet Mask “kakuungu” or “kazeba” avec l’ID d’objet 3040508 a fait partie de la dernière vente aux enchères 83rd Tribal Art Auction dans 28 mai 2016 le Zemanek-Münster Hôtel des ventes. L’objet portant le numéro de lot 487 a atteint un prix de vente de 3 000 €.
Vous trouverez d’autres Masques et autres types d’objets populaires sur nos pages thématiques associées. Notre page sur le thème Art africain pourrait également vous intéresser.
Littérature comparée
Bourgeois, Arthur, Yaka, Milan 2014, pl. 52 Herreman, Frank, To cure and protect, New York 1999, p. 32
Publications
Afrikanische Kunst, Sammlung Robert Lewitzki, Unterlüß 2001, p. 64, ill. 92