Mask Lukwakongo, Lega, Drc

Old mask with an oval face in the shape of a heart. The forehead is high and the arched brow ridges join and extend towards the bridge of the nose. The mouth is ajar and the eyes are shaped like coffee beans. The stylized face was enhanced with white pigment of which traces remain. It is still equipped with a suspension link and a long beard of plant fibers. These small masks called "Lukwakongo" are actually rank masks that were used during initiation rites.
Wood with a beautiful patina of use, slight lacks especially at the back, pigment, vegetable fibres.
H: 13 cm, with the base: 37 cm
Lega people, Democratic Republic of Congo.
First half of the 20th century
Provenance: - Collected in-situ by the American pastor Samuel Vinton of the Protestant Church “Grace Ministries International”. The Reverend Pastor Vinton Samuel, known as "BABA VI" was born on 03/12/1907, and arrived in Congo in 1928. He first settled in Shabunda in Kivu then in 1933 he went to Kama or the same year, he will build the first house of the Protestant mission. Around 1939 he will open a maternity hospital and in 1942, a leper colony. In 1931 he went to France to follow a training course at the Tropical Medical School in Paris. He will return to the Kama mission until 2004 when he will return to the United States for medical care. He died there on January 2, 2005 at the age of 98. He was decorated with the National Order of the Leopard in 1988 by President Mobutu and with the Order of the Crown by Belgium. He wanted to be the defender of the BAMI (customary chiefs) whose ceremonies were prohibited by the Belgian colonial administration (see photos).