mask - Lega - DR Congo (No reserve price)

Fine old Lega mask
19x10x6 cm (without the stand).
Weight: 106 gr.

Lega "masks" fall into the category of Bwami initiation objects. The Lega further divide them into five types according to material, size, and form: lukwakongo, kayam-ba, idimu, muminia, and lukungu . They serve as an
important mark of rank, identifying the owners as members of specific Bwami levels .
Contrary to the Lega mask categories based on form and material, most Western definitions of masks are based on
function. "Mask" describes an object that covers the face and transforms the wearer. Using this definition, the Lega have very few, if any, true masks. Most of what we know as Lega "masks" are sculptures of a human face that are rarely worn over the face and never for purposes of true transformation .

Like many initiation objects, the Lega mask can be assigned different uses and meanings depending on the context of the performance . In Bwami ceremonies, masks are attached to different parts of the body, piled in
stacks, hung on fences, displayed, dragged on the ground, and occasionally worn on the forehead with the beard draping over the face of the wearer . The small wooden lukwakongo masks, for
example, are rarely worn on the face. Instead Bwami members attach them to their arms, the sides of their heads, or their foreheads; they hang them on fences, as noted above; or they hold them in their hands. To facilitate presenting the handheld masks, artists carve handles on their backs .

The sculpture, or "mask," manipulated by a senior Bwami member can assume the roles of many different characters
during performances. The Bwami member can be compared to a puppeteer and the mask to a puppet. Characterization occurs around the mask, but the puppeteer is not transformed.


It is sold with the stand.