Lot n° 27
Estimation :
5000 - 7000
EUR
IDIMU LEGA MASK, Democratic Republic of the... - Lot 27 - Crait + Müller
IDIMU LEGA MASK, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medium-hard wood with light patina, kaolin, vegetable fibers.
H. 31 cm
Face inscribed in a heart still marked by white clay, narrow coffee-bean eyes on either side of a stretched nose, mouth hatched as a sign of silence. The forehead is decorated with short cupules.
"According to the practices of various ritual communities, wooden masks are used in initiation rites for higher or supreme grades. They are included in the collective baskets of these grades, which contain both natural and manufactured objects. Sometimes they are worn over the face or on the back of the head." During certain initiation rites, a preceptor might put on such a mask, which would then be placed very high on the forehead, with the beard falling back on his face or on the sides of his head (in Biebuyck, p. 164).
A fine early example of the type.
PROVENANCE: former Belgian colonial collection; Patrick Claes Gallery, Belgium; Etude Neumeister, Munich, May 17, 2014, reproduced under lot 175.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Daniel Biebuyck, La sculpture des Lega, Galerie Hélène et Philippe Leloup, 1994, pp. 164-174.
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