Mask, Kwele; Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)
Wood, pigment; H. 8"
Bakwele masks were traditionally made
for use in the Beete cult, which regulated
social behavior and had initiatory and magical functions.
Beete appears to have waned by the 1920s
among the Bakwele, yet masks continued to be made
by traditional carvers for decades, for use in secular
festivals and for sale to the European market. (Siroto,
1995) Indeed, Leon Siroto, who lived among the Bakwele
for over a year decades ago, asserts that a large
number of traditionally carved Bakwele masks had
no magico-religious usage at all, though they may
still be seen as traditional in that they were carved
by Bakwele individuals in the Bakwele canon. Siroto
rightly takes to task the large amount of spurious
information published with regards to Bakwele masking
in general as an attempt to enhance and indeed protect
the market viability of these precious objects —
many on display in the most famous museums and collections
worldwide. Louis Perrois, on the other hand (Perrois,
2001), seems more forgiving and willing to allow
a wider range of possibilities. Notably, however,
he does not illustrate in his most recent work on
the Bakwele some of the masks that Siroto accepted
as "traditional" though of later manufacture,
such as the example carved by Abanda in the
Strong collection. It would seem here that Perrois
associates authenticity with age and date of collection.
In all likelihood, this issue will never be categorically
decided one way or the other, as most information
about Beete and traditional usage among the Bakwele
vanishes as time progresses. In this sense, it is
best perhaps to simply appreciate the marvelous
Bakwele mask at hand and discuss its merits after
this long caveat. The Gelbard example was collected
early enough to be compared with a very similar
though unusual example collected by Governor Antonietti
before the Second World War. In the case of that
example, the mask is solid, and Janus. The Gelbard
example, however, is a true face mask, and some
of the holes beneath each eye are pierced to allow
the dancer to see through the mask. Both masks bear
nearly identical renderings of the face, mouth,
and dotted motifs as highlights; it is not at all
impossible that both are the work of the same carver
or workshop. Masks such as the Gelbard example in
traditional Beete contexts would have been considered
"beautiful" and danced in a female manner,
according to Siroto. Perrois refers to this type
as Pipibudze and implies that it is a mask
that depicts protective forest spirits. Whatever
the case, the simplicity and stylization of this
mask clearly illustrate why Bakwele masks in general
are so sought after–integrating facial elements
in a way that is simple yet emotive and powerful
though dramatically understated.
