Details

Title

Mask

Artist/Maker

Lwalwa Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Date

Late nineteenth–early twentieth century

Medium

Wood

Dimensions

11 inches

Credit

Fred and Rita Richman Collection

Accession #

2004.150

On View

Currently not on view

Among the Lwalwa people of the southern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Angola, initiation masks like this one are carved by politically powerful men who are also in charge of staging masquerade performances. Lwalwa masks present an ingenious distillation of forms. They typically have concave faces bisected by long vertical noses, narrow slits for eyes, round ears, and rectangular mouths. White clay highlights fill the eyes, mouth, and ears.

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