Kidumu mask - Teke Tsaye - DR Congo

--------------------------- Classical African Art & Art of Forms -------------- ------------ ORIGIN: Unpublished object, first sale, no history of sale or collection. - This object comes from a family heirloom passed down over two generations by descent. - This masterpiece was collected with two other masks in Congo Brazzaville by a resident of Pointe Noire. DESCRIPTION Superb circular wooden mask with the most stylized intricate relief patterns. As seen in the attached pop-up photo, masks such as this were worn by a dancer hidden by a feather headdress. Rear face worn by repeated portages. The mask is sold on its personalized base as you see in the photos. It is to the Tsaye, who live north of the Niari river, that we owe this mask of Kidumu society. Affecting the shape of a disc covered with red, white and black pigment, it is composed in a symmetrical and balanced way, but also symbolically. Unreal in appearance, it fascinates with its artistic value and its great modernity. The signatures worn on such masks have been the subject of various interpretations. Thus, the large horizontal median line could represent the horizon and fix the limit between the sky and the earth. The semicircles at the top and bottom would represent the phases of the moon. As seen in the attached photos, the Kidumu company mask was accompanied by a thick raffia headdress. Additional comment: “The flat masks are for the most part strictly reserved for the Tsai group of the Teke tribe and represent a human face interpreted in an abstract manner. They are used by members of Kidumu society. The features of the face, the eyes, the nose and the mouth, are only minor elements in a decorative whole accentuated by polychromy. At the same time, the design is a composition of symbols. The headdress ranges from simple to more elaborate costumes of woven fibers and fabric, trimmed with feathers and raffia fringes. "Cornet, 1978. SECTOR African art, Africa, tribal art, primitive art, primitive art, European artist, Picasso, . . .