Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

ongo Woyo - RDC Zaire
The masks are relatively rare among the Kongo.
It is in the coastal zone, among the Vili, Yombe and notably the Woyo, that we find them.

These masks are called Ndunga named after the association to which they belong.
In terms of stylistic approach, it is probably the existence of the slanted eyes that first captures our attention. Then the polychromy, the triad white, black, red (or ochre here, it seems), the importance of the mouth... and in this last case the impressive volume of the costume, here essentially made up of feathers, often dried leaves.

It should be noted that the Ndunga institution carried an important political function and its members were responsible for enforcing social order.
But the Ndunga mask also played an important ritual role. The association was indeed linked to the worship of earth spirits; the mask was used to foster crops.
With the kind permission of "Détours"