Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

French.

The rites of initiation and funerals in Africa. This specimen that would represent the common man of the people, intended according to Cornet for the initiation ceremonies of the youths, does not fall into the category of royal African masks. Torday and Joyce indicate that the Ngongo of the babende secret society used this mask in the company of the bundu and the gore moashi. Called Ishyeenmaal, Ishendemale, or Pwoom itok, it has horns, also present on palm wine cups, and recalling the old hairstyle of Kuba warriors worn by chiefs. It was composed of two braids symbolizing the buffalo’s horns. The cone-shaped, projecting eyes, blind, may refer to the chameleon. The shaved, hydrocephalic forehead, for its part, evokes the hairstyles characteristic of Kuba women. The surface of this mask bears