Mask - Wood - Mwana Pwo - Chokwe - Congo DRC

Mwana Pwo mask Chokwe Culture, Democratic Republic of Congo First half of the 20th century Wood and pigments Height: 31 - Width: 20 - Thickness: 13 cm (damage) Carved wooden mask worked with incisions showing scarification on the cheeks, temples and forehead. The shape in a stylised star is characteristic of the Mwana Pwo. Her thin-lipped mouth is half-open, her half-closed eyes are openwork into two tapered almonds and underlined by incised crescent-shaped eyebrows. Her C-shaped ears are in relief. It is topped with a large, blue-pigmented, fully ribbed shell cap. Mwana Pwo masks are the most important masks of this matrilineal culture: they are the representation of the "beautiful young girl". Both an ancestral spirit and a representation of beauty, they symbolise the primordial role of women.