Artwork Page for Mask (Bwoom)

Details / Information for Mask (Bwoom)

Mask (Bwoom)

mid- to late 1800s

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

Medium
Wood and paint
Measurements
Overall: 43.3 x 31.2 x 28.3 cm (17 1/16 x 12 5/16 x 11 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
James Albert Ford Memorial Fund 1935.304
Public Domain
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Location
108A African
Print
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Did You Know?

Imagine this mask topped with eagle feathers; they would have been added only on special occasions when it was performed.

Description

Among the Bushoong, the central Kuba group, the mask known as bwoom—most typically identified as the head of a hunter-gatherer—forms a triad with a female mask and another male mask. All three are protagonists in the reenactment of the foundation of the Kuba kingdom. Outside the capital, however, bwoom appears in different non-royal contexts, such as the men’s initiation society.
A dark-brown wood mask with orange undertones depicts a human face with eyes narrowed to slits, a mouth outlined in a diamond shape, and a rounded pyramid-shaped nose. Vertical black stripes are painted across the cheekbones, with black triangular patterns painted like the stubble of a beard and in a semicircle on the forehead, below a band of darker wood on top.

Mask (Bwoom)

mid- to late 1800s

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

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