Face mask

Object Details

Bembe artist

Label Text

Human and animal characteristics are brought together in this unusual and fairly rare face mask from the Bembe region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Masks of this type may include birdlike characteristics and/or carved antelope or buffalo horns. The horns on this example are broken, making any such identification impossible. Although its function is uncertain, the mask may have been used in circumcision rites or within the titled association known as Bwami.

Masks somewhat similar in style are also found among the neighboring Nyindu.

Description

Wood face mask with broken horns projecting from the forehead, circular eyesockets and semicircular slit eyes. Incised linear marks divide the forehead, circle the eyes and flank the mouth. The mask has an overall dark color.

Exhibition History

The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection Highlights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 21, 2009-June 4, 2014

For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981

Published References

Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 234, no. 145.

Content Statement

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Image Requests

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Credit Line

Gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

Mid 19th century

Object number

2005-6-189

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Mask

Medium

Wood, resin pigment

Dimensions

H x W x D: 22.2 x 16.2 x 7.9 cm (8 3/4 x 6 3/8 x 3 1/8 in.)

Geography

Democratic Republic of the Congo

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Topic

antelope

bushcow

male

Record ID

nmafa_2005-6-189

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7961fb2e4-2182-48ce-b845-65477d0fcf1e