Lukwakongo Mask - Lega - DR Congo
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€ 1
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Selected by Julien Gauthier
A decade of experience in historical arms, armour, and African art.
Estimate € 250 - € 300
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Description from the seller
Lukwakongo Mask – Lega – Democratic Republic of the Congo
Origin: Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa), Kivu and Maniema regions
Culture / Ethnic group: Lega
Material: Carved wood, pigments and traces of kaolin
Mount: The work is supplied with its original custom-made display stand.
- An exclusive, richly illustrated catalogue accompanies the Wirtz Collection, with a detailed entry devoted to each work presented. (available to order)
- Previously unpublished: A dated and signed composition entitled After the Wirtz Collection, offering a pictorial evocation of the collection’s interior as it might have been depicted in 1965.
Provenance
From the former private collection of a member of the Wirtz family, Antwerp (Belgium), a family historically active in the travel industry.
According to information provided directly by her heir, this object is said to have been brought back from the Congo in the 1960s and subsequently kept within the family.
The family collection was carefully preserved and displayed in a room entirely devoted to it, arranged in the spirit of a private collector’s cabinet, where the works were gathered and showcased in an environment specially dedicated to their presentation.
Acquired directly from the heir, with whom this sale is being conducted in collaboration.
Description & Study of the Work
Anthropomorphic Lukwakongo mask, attributed to the Lega of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Lukwakongo belongs to the initiatory world of the Bwami society, a fundamental institution of Lega society. Objects and masks associated with Bwami served to transmit moral, philosophical and social teachings; each form could act as a vehicle for knowledge and as a marker of initiatory progression.
This example captivates with its almost absolute formal simplicity. The ovoid face is reduced to a few essential features: a long, deeply raised nose ridge, broad eye areas rendered in flat planes, and a mouth suggested only by a fine incision.
The face’s composition is organized around an almost heart-shaped structure, formed by the brow ridges, nose and planes of the cheeks. This highly refined geometry is characteristic of Lega aesthetics, in which a work’s power often rests less on an accumulation of detail than on the precision and clarity of a few essential forms.
The surface now displays a beautiful brown-beige patina, enlivened by remnants of pigments and kaolin. This ancient, irregular material lends the face a quiet, almost timeless presence, with an expression that seems more suggested than truly depicted.
The profile particularly reveals the quality of the carving: the nose projects forcefully from a deliberately flat face, creating a striking interplay of light and shadow with great economy of means.
Several perforations are visible around the edge. On Lukwakongo masks, such openings could have been used to attach additional elements, particularly fibers, or could have formed part of the object’s display and use in its initiatory context.
The work derives remarkable power from its austerity: here, everything rests on balance, frontality and the purity of the sign. A Lega mask of astonishing formal modernity, whose restraint gives the face a particularly enigmatic and meditative presence.
Lukwakongo Mask – Lega – Democratic Republic of the Congo
Origin: Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa), Kivu and Maniema regions
Culture / Ethnic group: Lega
Material: Carved wood, pigments and traces of kaolin
Mount: The work is supplied with its original custom-made display stand.
- An exclusive, richly illustrated catalogue accompanies the Wirtz Collection, with a detailed entry devoted to each work presented. (available to order)
- Previously unpublished: A dated and signed composition entitled After the Wirtz Collection, offering a pictorial evocation of the collection’s interior as it might have been depicted in 1965.
Provenance
From the former private collection of a member of the Wirtz family, Antwerp (Belgium), a family historically active in the travel industry.
According to information provided directly by her heir, this object is said to have been brought back from the Congo in the 1960s and subsequently kept within the family.
The family collection was carefully preserved and displayed in a room entirely devoted to it, arranged in the spirit of a private collector’s cabinet, where the works were gathered and showcased in an environment specially dedicated to their presentation.
Acquired directly from the heir, with whom this sale is being conducted in collaboration.
Description & Study of the Work
Anthropomorphic Lukwakongo mask, attributed to the Lega of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Lukwakongo belongs to the initiatory world of the Bwami society, a fundamental institution of Lega society. Objects and masks associated with Bwami served to transmit moral, philosophical and social teachings; each form could act as a vehicle for knowledge and as a marker of initiatory progression.
This example captivates with its almost absolute formal simplicity. The ovoid face is reduced to a few essential features: a long, deeply raised nose ridge, broad eye areas rendered in flat planes, and a mouth suggested only by a fine incision.
The face’s composition is organized around an almost heart-shaped structure, formed by the brow ridges, nose and planes of the cheeks. This highly refined geometry is characteristic of Lega aesthetics, in which a work’s power often rests less on an accumulation of detail than on the precision and clarity of a few essential forms.
The surface now displays a beautiful brown-beige patina, enlivened by remnants of pigments and kaolin. This ancient, irregular material lends the face a quiet, almost timeless presence, with an expression that seems more suggested than truly depicted.
The profile particularly reveals the quality of the carving: the nose projects forcefully from a deliberately flat face, creating a striking interplay of light and shadow with great economy of means.
Several perforations are visible around the edge. On Lukwakongo masks, such openings could have been used to attach additional elements, particularly fibers, or could have formed part of the object’s display and use in its initiatory context.
The work derives remarkable power from its austerity: here, everything rests on balance, frontality and the purity of the sign. A Lega mask of astonishing formal modernity, whose restraint gives the face a particularly enigmatic and meditative presence.
Details
Ethnic group/ culture
Lega
Country of Origin
DR Congo
Period
Mid 20th century
Sold with stand
Yes
Condition
Excellent condition
Title of artwork
Lukwakongo Mask
Height
34 cm
Width
0 cm
Depth
0 cm
Provenance
Private collection
Authenticity
Original/official
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