Mask, Songye; D.R.C. Congo
Wood, pigment; H. 19"
Masks of this general type, known
as Kifwebe, are utilized by the Bwada
ka Bifwebe society among the Songye people of
D.R.C. Congo and to some extent by their Luba neighbors
as well. The most characteristic feature of these
masks is the striated surface, which is in some
cases rendered finely as a multitude of lines and
in others simply presented as wide bands of opposing
colors. For some time, it was believed that a large
number of the most dramatic examples had been created
for an early tourist market, though Mestach clearly
and convincingly refutes this with a field photo
taken in 1934 by Father Teenstra in which a large
group of nearly fifty masked dancers are gathered
in full costume, wearing masks that some had deemed
"non-traditional" (Mestach, 1985). The
Gelbard collection example is one of the virtuoso
pieces of the genre. Mestach writes that this piece
is: "An early collected Kifwebe, perfectly
authentic from the inter-influenced region of Kabinda
— the morphology is of a rare type, and perfectly
executed (which is not the case for objects that
were destined for commercial or tourist sale) and
visibly by a hand that A. Malraux would have called
‘a creator of styles'" (Mestach, 1988).
Additionally Mestach feels that there is a great
deal of Luba influence in what he terms this "female"
Kifwebe. It should here be noted that these
masks appear to have been gender specific in terms
of morphology, the male masks having crests of varying
sizes and the female masks being rounded, crestless,
and less aggressively conceived. Female masks, though,
are usually not pigmented this extensively, ordinarily
presenting white with black highlights. The Teenstra
field photo, however, illustrates several similarly
pigmented "female" masks. Thus it may
be the case that we cannot extrapolate from contemporary
usage the stylistic determinants of the type seven
decades ago. As a work of art this outstanding mask
illustrates successful experimentation with form
and geometry; the added polychromatic designs perfectly
highlight the tensions and balance the thrusting
forms, and the carved arcs above the eyes produces
an optical illusion of raised bulges. The carver
of this great work was not only a creator but indeed
a master, working with and synthesizing his idiom
while remaining true to its parameters.
