Pende mask - Pende - R.D. Congo

Much speculation has been devoted to the interpretation of the projection extending from the chin on these masks. Most Westerners have assumed that it represents a beard. This assumption always amazes the Pende, who rarely see beards longer than two inches. The technical name for the projection is “gilanga,” but Pende sculptors in the center jokingly call it “snout” (mutumbi). If possible, the Pende like to wait one or two nights before burying their dead. The women wash the body, lay it out, and cover it with a sheet. In the past, this sheet was made of raffia cloth, but later it was replaced by white cotton cloth. In the past, they sometimes pulled the sheet up to the chin and cut a strip of cloth to cover the mouth and keep it closed. In this case, the chin was exposed. The representation of a corpse explains the half-open eyes, with their unfocused gaze. The elegant abstraction of the body explains the shape of the projection, which in many cases curves upward at the end as the feet would. The mouth is half-open. For esthetic reasons, the artists have chosen to reinforce the jawline with the end of the covering sheet and depict the mouth without the line of fabric.

Provenance: Berthe Hartert, Barcelona
Argiles Collection, Barcelona