Kifwebe Mask, Luba, Drc

Mask presenting a stylized face with a mouth in rectangular relief in which a smile is carved. The nose, also in relief, is extended by a frontal mark. The openwork slit eyes delimit the upper and lower parts of the face. The lower zone is decorated with chiselled angular lines painted in white and red. The upper part presents arcs of circles also red and white. Very nice workmanship for this mask bearing the traditional attributes of the "Kifwebe" initiatory masks. We can see on the back of the mask an old collection label bearing the mention "Mask of the Baloubas found Joseph Langlois at cap....t Mbuyu village K...doy ter. Manono"
Wood, pigments, traces of xylophages. Height: 40cm
Luba people, Territory of Manono, province of Tanganyika, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Provenance: - Collected in situ by Joseph Langlois
                     - Ex Belgian private collection