Zande Mask, Drc

Mask featuring a polychrome face. The open mouth displays a smile, revealing teeth highlighted with white pigment. The eyes are open, and the eyelids are finely sculpted. The eyebrows are slightly raised and outlined in black, meeting at the nose. A chiseled line extends from the top of the forehead to the tip of the nose, ending in several arcs. The forehead and eyelids are covered with yellow pigment. The headdress is ogival. Masks of the Zande people are quite rare. It would appear that they were used for initiation ceremonies or for protective rites linked to invisible forces.
Zande/Azande people, Bas-Uele Province, DRC.
Mid-20th century.
Wood (cracks, old loss on the back), pigments.
Height: 26 cm.
Provenance: ex-Belgian private collection
- Acquired from the Congolese priest Sheta, who had obtained them in Buta.
- Collected in situ by Father Léon Mondry (1921-2010), a priest teaching in the Belgian Congo. He arrived in the Congo in 1947.
Sold with its base.