Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

African art: Tribal sculpture depicting a female subject whose concave face is framed by protruding and pierced ears. The arms are spread away from the bust, above squat, muscular legs. Old brown patina marked by desiccation cracks and wear from use.

Close to the Mangbetu and the Zande, the Boa live on the savanna north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their anthropomorphic figures were surely used within rites charged with fighting sorcery in the ndoki society. They are known for their mask with oversized ears, pierced like the lobes of the Boa’s ears to the east, the "bavobongo." It conferred an imposing aspect to its wearer, heightened by the contrast of colors. The Boa mask kpongadomba of African art was commissioned by the kumu chief, who offered it to the bravest warrior. It was then kept in his wife’s hut. Some Boa are said to have used the masks for educational purposes with children, since the pacification of the Uele region.