Bena Lulua mask with handle, DRC - Lot 172

Bena Lulua mask with handle, DRC A flat, circular crest and beard act as a handle for this African Luluwa mask, associated with circumcision rites and dignitary funerals. Curvilinear and lozenge motifs alternate on the surface. According to Rik Ceyssens in "Congo Masks" ( p.156 . ed. M.L.Félix) and as attested by the sketches of H.M.Lemme, who accompanied Frobenius on his travels in the Congo, this pattern of looped scarification was widespread among various Luluwa sub-groups by 1905. The Bakwa also sported this type of tribal scarring. Satin black patina 41 x 24 cm Sold without base The Lulua, or Béna Lulua, settled in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from West Africa. Their caste-based social structure is similar to that of the Luba. They produced few masks, but mainly statues of ancestors representing the ideal warrior, mulalenga wa nkashaama , as well as the chief of the Leopard society and mbulenga statuettes linked to nature spirits. Despite Kalamba Mukwenge's attempt, at the end of the 19th century, to eradicate traditional cults by means of auto-da-fé, the religious system was maintained, such as the tshibola fertility cult. (Tribal art from Black Africa. JB Bacquart; "Umbangu, Art du Congo au Musée Royal du Cogo Belge" ed. Cultura.