Authentic Mukenga Helmet Mask - wood, raffia, cloth, feathers, cauri shells beads, leather etc. - Kuba - D.R.C.

Authentic Mukenga Helmet Mask – Kuba – D. R. C. In very fine state, but clearly a vintage item. Collected in situ in Mushenge in 1931. It dates to the 1920/1930 period. Delivery only within the EU Provenance: Ex – collection of the Right Reverend Fathers of the Congregation of the Josephites, Melle near Gent, Belgium. Obtained from them by H. Westerdijk in 1969. This Mukenga or Mukyeen mask belongs to the paraphernalia of the Bubende men’s initiation society, especially active among the northern Kuba. The most striking element of this imposing mask is the long, curved projection from the top of the head downwards that represents the trunk of an elephant. The materials and time/ labour invested in producing such a mask makes it into a major Kuba piece of art. The small decorated strips of cloth attached near the base of the projection represent the tusks of the royal animal. At the end of the tusk we find a tuft of tailfeathers of the grey parrot. This type of mask was performing during the funerals of “big men “of the society to honour the deceased as a title holder of aristocratic status. Literature: David A. Brinkley: Helmet mask Mukenga of the Kuba peoples. In: M. L. Felix, Congo Masks, Brussels, 2019, pp. 176-177. Dimensions : 47x 41 x 45 cm. People / Region: The Kuba inhabit the central part of the Western Kasaye Province of Southcentral D. R. C. Material: wood, raffia, cloth, feathers, cauri shells beads, leather etc. Weight: 3. 5 kg Sold with handwritten declaration of authenticity by Dr. P. Westerdijk, museum ethnologist and cultural anthropologist specialized, for over 50 years now, in the study of the material cultures in African nations that live south of the Sahara.