Cleveland Museum of Art

Mask (Emangungu)

Date

possibly early 1900s

Medium

Wood, kaolin, colorant, and iron

Culture

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bembe-style maker

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Among the Bembe, anthropo-zoomorphic plank masks are used in circumcision rites called butende . They are worn along with a costume of bark and banana leaves by the initiated boys who beg for food in the village while living in seclusion in the forest. The sculpture’s short projections above the forehead are identified as an owl’s tufts. The two pairs of eyes could refer to divination. White kaolin clay highlights the eyes of this carved wooden mask.

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