This Luba mask originates from eastern Songye in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Luba people live near the Songye tribe and are mostly engaged in farming. Their masks share a similar characteristic as that of the Songye tribe and are also known as the Kifwebe. They used the masks for dances, lunar ceremonies or plays as artists hold a special place in the Luba tribe. Luba Masks differ in size, colour and look and this is simply because each Luba mask is hand-carved and hand-painted by individual artists so no two masks are exactly the same.
This is a small carved wood tribal commonly known as a “passport mask” carried with the traveller to show the tribe that they belong to. They were not worn on the face but exhibited, they were sown on a piece of cloth, tied to the upper arm, or hung on a fence during meetings of the society in order to allow the arriving members to see who was already present. The miniature masks were used to invoke ancestral spirits during secret society meetings, they were also used to serve as witnesses during initiation ceremonies. These maskettes were hand-carried in a dance, dragged or swung by their beards, hung over a shoulder. The following is a round-shaped shallow face mask with a dark patina, wide oval-shaped eyes, it has finely engraved streaks covered with white kaolin across the entire face, faded black paint-like substance on the eyes, mouth, and nose. It looks old with visible signs of wear.
- Material: Lightwood
- Age:50-60yrs
- Origin: Democratic Republic Of Congo
- Condition: Fairly Good
- SKU: LMIN-041
- Weight: 0.1 kg
- Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 4 cm