Cleveland Museum of Art

Mask (ndeemba)

Date

early 1900s

Medium

Wood, raffia, paint, and cotton

Culture

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yaka-style carver

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This Mask (Ndeemba) has been featured prominently in the African galleries since making its debut at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1962. Dated to the 1900s, the object is part of a group of eight masks that appear at the end of the circumcision and puberty ritual (n-khanda) for Yaka boys. It would have marked the new status of the boys who became men and commemorated their re-entry into the village. Affirming age-long tradition, such masks are worn by the master of the initiation or by the newly initiated himself. Look under the fluffy layers of raffia fiber to see the handle; this mask was "worn" by holding it up to the face.

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