AFRICAN ORIGINAL POWERFUL UNIQUE CEREMONIAL SONGYE KIFWEBE WOOD MASK DRCONGO

Description

ETHNOGRAPHIC WOOD MASK SONGYE CLASSIC KIFWEBE RAFFIA CUBIST ART
Type of Object: FACE MASK Ethnic Group: SONGYE Country of Origin: DR CONGO (ZAIRE) Materials: WOOD, PIGMENT, PLANT FIBER, KAOLIN Approximate Age: 40 +yrs uncertain Dimensions: 17.0” x 8.0” x 10.0” Weight: 2.5 lbs;  Overall Condition: Used, Very Good
It was used by the Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe secret society for initiations, circumcisions, weddings and funerals. In the Songye language kifwebe means mask. This mask attributed also to the Baluba tribe has impressive shapes, the nose forming part of a crest like hairdo, enlarged eyelids a protruding boxlike mouth and lineal often in white and red, on the entire surface. It embodied supernatural forces. The kifwebe society used it to ward off disaster or any treat. These type of masks are worn at ceremonies honoring a dead chief, or at the installation of a new chief, and at the welcoming of important visitors in the village. These masks had the capacity to heal by means of the supernatural force it was supposed to incorporate. The ritual of exorcism consisted of holding the sick man's mask while a magician acted as if he were casting it into the fire. For further reading;Masks of Black Africa by Ladislas Segy.
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