Female Facemask Ngady Mwaash - wood, cloth, shells, beads - Kuba - D.R.C.

Splendid Female Facemask Ngady Mwaash – Kuba – D. R. C. In fine state but with all the signs of a vintage item. Collected in situ in Mushenge in 1931. It dates back to the first quarter of the 20th century. On stand. 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 ‘female mask’ (which is the exact translation of its Kuba name) has a wooden front as face and a top plus sides made of cloth, decorated with beads and shells. Coloured beads outline the brows and mouth. A beaded and caurishell decorated strip of cloth is attached to the bridge of the nose and continues across the mouth and chin. Parallel lines painted diagonally across the cheeks symbolize the tears that are shed at the funeral of an initiated man in whose honour the mask is performed. The dancer wears a female costume with fake breasts and moves about in a sensuous way, just like a woman. It was especially found among the central and southern Kuba. Literature: David A. Birkley: Female facemask Ngady Mwaash: Kuba peoples. In M. L. Felix (ed.) : Congo Masks, Brussels, 2019, pp. 174-175. Dimensions : 30 x 14 x 28 cm. People / Region: The Kuba inhabit the central part of the Western Kasaye Province of Southcentral D. R. C. Materials: wood, cloth, shells, beads. Weight: 1. 78 kg. incl. stand 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.