Mask - Wood feathers raffia - Chihongo - Chokwe - Angola

Stunning chihongo/cihongo mask. Unknown Chokwe artist, Angola or Democratic Republic of Congo. Early to mid 20th century. Wood, natural pigments, raffia fibres, old linen cloth, feathers, copper earrings. Height: 39 cm (including feather headdress and neckpiece) ; 15 cm (wooden face part only) Maximum width: 30 cm Absolutely impressive masterfully carved piece of work: perfectly balanced, great level of detail and crispness. It still retains it’s visually striking feathered headdress and netting around the neck. Wonderful example of classic Chokwe style in it's aesthetical peak. The chihongo masquerade represents an important male ancestor and symbolises wealth and authority or power. The elaborate feather headdress evokes a chief’s crown and the beard is associated with chiefs, too. They were therefore worn and performed only by the chiefs or their sons. Chihongo played an important role in the mukanda initiation ritual of the Chokwe people, as well as other festivities such as the enthronement and burial of chiefs. Like many other known examples of smaller sized ‘face masks’, the wearer would have placed the mask actually on top of his head, rather than over his face, and peer through a hole in the costume netting below the chin of the mask. See a comparable but even less crisp example of this mask in Manuel Jordan's ‘CHOKWE! Art and Initiation among Chokwe and related peoples’ (Prestel 1998) on plate 71. This piece comes from the collection of a German historian of African art. I am selling this long time favourite of mine to fund a new acquisition. Sold without stand.