Lot: 447

87e vente aux enchères Tribal Art

Masque "mbuya"

R. D. Congo, Pende

Provenance Taille Prix d’appel / Prix d'Estimation
Guy Schraenen, Antwerp, Belgium H: 18,5 cm (mask) Cet objet n’est plus disponible.

wood, reddish brown patina, black paint, kaolin, bonnet and remains of a costume form raffia bast, hairdo with dark plant fibre, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion, base.
Mask type called "the female mask" or "gambanda". The dancer dresses like a beautiful young girl liable to become the trophy wife of a high-status male. The female mask dances to the rhythms of comtemporary popular dances and performs little comedies with a mirror and comb to suggest her vanity and preoccupation with appearance.


Strother, Z.S., Inventing masks, Chicago 1998, 217 ff.