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An important Yombe or Sundi face mask for a diviner browse these categories for related items... All Items: Hidden: Viewable: Pre 1940: item # 917020 Please refer to our stock # I40 when inquiring.
michael cichon tribal arts P.O. Box 5919 Bradenton, FL 34281 941.224.0440 Guest Book Price on request |
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| The various Kongo peoples made masks to animate the images and spirits of deceased ancestors. Only diviners or healers could wear such masks. Because they dealt with the spiritual world, their power was respected and feared and became a precision instrument used for the good of curing various problems for individuals and the community. These realistically rendered masks, such as this exceptional example, were believed to transmit authority and knowledge to the diviner who wore it while making a diagnosis - a cure for an ailing individual or client with a mental illness, for example. Those with a misfortune in life or relationship could also consult the healer and the mask he wore. Although this mask appears to have a natural wood tone, it shows remains of a thick, kaolin white coloring on the surface of the face. Some features are darkened to a brownish black, achieved by scorching the wood with hot metal pokers until the area became charred. The mask shows traces of a red pigment on the cap, as well. This triumvirate of color, that is, red, black, and white, is typical of Central Africa. Further, the color white is associated with human bones and the ancestral world. The expression on this naturalistic mask is with eyes and mouth open and tongue sticking out between filed upper teeth, as seen on the many figures used by ritualists (nganga diphoba). Early 20th Century, from the present-day D.R.Congo, formerly Zaire. It measures 13.25"H x 8"W. The mask shows wear to the features and has lost much of its thick coating of white pigment, but is, otherwise, intact and with an excellent patina from use. Quite rare to find in collections. Provenance: Old private collection, Florida, formed in the late 1960's | ||||||||
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