Zoomorphic Mask

This truly enigmatic mask came from the collection of the brother of the King of the Kuba people. It is extremely similar to an example that is one of the most famous pieces of African art, currently at the The Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.

The Tervuren example was collected in the 19th century, and looks stylistically very similar to this; the volumes, iconography, and even the means of attachment (with perforations behind the beard which are not apparent in any photos of the Tervuren example) would lead one to believe that it is from the same workshop.

A field photo exists from the King of Kuba’s brother’s archive, showing the piece sitting in the lap of a woman who allegedly received it from her parents when they came to Kananga (in Kuba country) to work on the rail system decades ago.

The mask seems to be an absolutely authentic example, if not of the vintage of the Tervuren piece, then a generation or so later, carved possibly by the same atelier or carving family.

Animal masking was once quite common in Luba country, but seems to have virtually died out in the middle of the 20th century. Shortly thereafter, animal masking in the form of various animal Kifwebe masks, adopted from the Songye, filled the void among the Western Luba who created an entire menagerie of animals in this new style.

This mask would have been from the time period of Luba masking in a traditional Luba context, when they made masks in styles that were their own. During this time period, masks of various animals such as elephants and perhaps monkeys were created and utilized by a Luba dance association.

Masks of this type are extremely rare and few examples exist in collections; it is possible that a movement spread across Luba country at some stage that was responsible for the destruction of a large number of such masks, though this is purely conjecture.