Mask

Museum number:
5-15392
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21050015392
Accession number:
Acc.4288
Description:
Helmet mask, wood, one-piece, carved from solid black; raised nasal septal ridge, painted black on top; protruding mouth and lips panted red; slit eyes painted black with red and black for eyebrows; incised grooves on face, cheeks and scalp; holes drilled along edges for attachment of hood. Length 46.5 cm. Width 27.0 cm. “The Songye... produced remarkable masks and figurines characterized particularly by an angular cubist style.” “The large wooden masks used in the ‘Kifebwe’ association have strongly protruding mouth, nose, and eyes and are painted red, white, black or blue, with curvilinear grooves and stripes in alternating colors.”
Donor:
Dan Stuhlmueller
Collection place:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Verbatim coll. place:
Central Africa; Zaire; Southeastern Congo; Songye
Culture or time period:
Ba Songye
Collector:
Dan Stuhlmueller
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Masks (costume)
Function:
5.3 Objects relating to the Secular and Quasi-religious Rites, Pageants, and Drama
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 2 titled Mask, accession number 5-15392, described as Helmet mask, wood, one-piece, carved from solid black; raised nasal septal ridge, painted black on top; protruding mouth and lips panted red; slit eyes painted black with red and black for eyebrows; incised grooves on face, cheeks and scalp; holes drilled along edges for attachment of hood. Length 46.5 cm. Width 27.0 cm. “The Songye... produced remarkable masks and figurines characterized particularly by an angular cubist style.” “The large wooden masks used in the ‘Kifebwe’ association have strongly protruding mouth, nose, and eyes and are painted red, white, black or blue, with curvilinear grooves and stripes in alternating colors.”Hearst Museum object 2 of 2 titled Mask, accession number 5-15392, described as Helmet mask, wood, one-piece, carved from solid black; raised nasal septal ridge, painted black on top; protruding mouth and lips panted red; slit eyes painted black with red and black for eyebrows; incised grooves on face, cheeks and scalp; holes drilled along edges for attachment of hood. Length 46.5 cm. Width 27.0 cm. “The Songye... produced remarkable masks and figurines characterized particularly by an angular cubist style.” “The large wooden masks used in the ‘Kifebwe’ association have strongly protruding mouth, nose, and eyes and are painted red, white, black or blue, with curvilinear grooves and stripes in alternating colors.”
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Mask, accession number 5-15392, described as Helmet mask, wood, one-piece, carved from solid black; raised nasal septal ridge, painted black on top; protruding mouth and lips panted red; slit eyes painted black with red and black for eyebrows; incised grooves on face, cheeks and scalp; holes drilled along edges for attachment of hood. Length 46.5 cm. Width 27.0 cm. “The Songye... produced remarkable masks and figurines characterized particularly by an angular cubist style.” “The large wooden masks used in the ‘Kifebwe’ association have strongly protruding mouth, nose, and eyes and are painted red, white, black or blue, with curvilinear grooves and stripes in alternating colors.”

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