Mask Lega Of Zaire

Mask or rather mask Lega from Zaire height 18.5 cm x 10.5 cm wide Carved in the wood of the arre Muntonko (Alstonia) with a bleached face of kaolin wears a beard of luzelu fibers, traditionally made not of raffia but of fibers taken from the Lukusa vine Beard fixed by means of a cord passed through several perforations on the inner edge of the mask slight scarifications on the eyebrows wood with a brown patina and shiny in places due to repeated handling This mask is transferred and acquired during the rite Lukwakongo of the grade Lutumbo Lwa Yananio It is ceded to the relative chosen as successor when the owner dies and passes to the Kindi level The mask is kept in a man's game bag with other emblems and kept in his house by his elder initiate wife Kalonga These masks are generally presented in groups, in the sense that each participating Yananio must take their mask to the initiation and show it when asked. When a Yananio dies, he is buried in his house and his mask is placed on the grave with other insignia sold with support