Tribal Art

Equipped with frightening features, this type of African initiation mask, Mbuya, of the Pende, was supposed to incorporate a particularly threatening character.
Black patina, drying cracks, abrasions. Height on base: 50 cm.

The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Easterners have established themselves on the banks of the Kasai downstream of Tshikapa. The Mbuya masks, realistic, produced every ten years, have a festive function, and embody different characters difficult to differentiate without their costume, including the fumu or chief. ufumu, the diviner and his wife, the prostitute, the jester, tundu, the possessed, etc... Mbuya initiation masks linked to mukanda< initiation /i> and those of power, the minganji, represent the ancestors and occur successively during the same ceremonies, agricultural festivals, mukanda initiation and circumcision rituals, enthronement of the chief. (Art and Life in Africa, C.D. Roy; “Pende” Strother)