Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

African mask
Guys
A janiform African tribal figure lacking prongs and featuring a single 'z'-shaped foot, belonging to an initiate of the Bwami, among many others used during various initiations. These zigzag effigies of high-ranking women of Bwami, whose headdress has a phallic shape and is also called nkumba. When the figure is worn upside down, it is then called mulima (bat). The teacher guided the aspirant in a place where masks and statuettes were displayed, and it was through careful observation that the initiated mask had to decipher the more or less complex meaning of these metaphors, which largely referred to proverbs and sayings. Those not authorized to see the object, in order to be protected from it, had to undergo costly ceremonies, and sometimes even revert to the lower grade of Bwami, the kongabulumbu, at great expense to their families. Each of these initiations lasted seven days and included at least seven performances. The objects 'earned' individually were then kept in a woven bag.