Kuba Lele / Bashilele Mask. First Art.

KUBA LELE / BASHILELE MASK, DRC Magnificent polychrome cephalomorphic LELE or BASHILELE mask. Brown wood with natural polychrome pigments and hammered copper. Early 20th century. Ex-Peter LOEBARTH collection. In a refined and finely sculpted style, the mask has a beautiful patina of use in a dark brown color decorated with natural pigments based on cinnabar and kaolin admirably deposited in dotted lines. This mask has the particularity of being equipped on the forehead, nose and mouth with thin hammered copper plates for a successful multi-material association and a very aesthetic result. The copper plates, perforations / scarifications attest to good ritual use and despite some visible surface abrasions, it has remained in a good general state of conservation. _______________________________________________________________ The LELE tribe also called BASHILELE occupies the western part of the KUBA kingdom and lives mainly from hunting and agriculture. The Lélé sculptors created masks, worn during the annual founding festivals, almost flat and with eyes generally surrounded by several lines. The Lélé use prestige objects influenced by the Kuba style, with the difference that the characters appearing on the masks have very long braids thanks to a support above the forehead and regular holes that allow the distinctive headdress to be attached. These very refined masks, often decorated with natural pigments, remain rare, very distinctive of their culture and very aesthetic. Peter LOEBARTH began humanitarian missions in the DRC in the 1970s and was subsequently a regular documentalist there. A central figure in Germany, particularly on the subject of LOBI art, of which he owned one of the largest collections in the world, he nurtured a true passion for the African continent. Collected in situ by LOEBARTH in the DRC (formerly Zaire) in the 1970s, the mask was then passed on to his friend Dr. Wolfgang NERLICH. Bibliography: Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, Brüssel 1987, p. 75, ill. 10. Period: Early 20th century Dimensions: H: 41 cm – W: 29 cm