Tribal mask - Kifwebe - Songye - DR Congo - 48 cm

Ancient male Kifwebe mask from Songye tribe, D. R. of Congo. Dimensions: height: 48 cm; width: 35.5 cm; depth: 28.5 cm. Estimated age: 1940. Provenance: collected on early fifties by comboni fathers in Kasongo, Belgian Congo, nowadays Maniema province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Purchased from Mbuya Comboni Missionaries, Kampala (Uganda), on 2006. Type of wood: Ricinodendron Rautanenii. Substances: the colours of the mask are a bit faded. The black dye has been identified as charcoal (“Lifito” in Basongye language). The white dye has been applied by the use of riverbed clay (known in Basongye language as “Ntoshi”), a type of clay similar to kaolin, mixed with yellow ochre (limonite dust). The red dye has been obtained from Bixa Orellana (annatto). The mask has been repainted several times, as usual for most of tribally used masks from Songye tribe. Looking carefully at the surface, it's possible to see eight levels of colour, of which