The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Wood mask with the face painted white with traces of blue and red, pronounced ears, a large curved nose, and circle eyes with slits in the center, as if closed. A hat-like structure thins and curves out and up into four pole-like extensions on each side of the structure. The face of the mask is nestled in bushy, light brown, dried palm strips.

Mask (ndeemba)

early 1900s

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

Wood, raffia, paint, and cotton
Overall: 47 cm (18 1/2 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1969.8
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Look under the fluffy layers of raffia fiber to see the handle; this mask was "worn" by holding it up to the face.

Description

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.
  • 1962
    Robert Stolper, New York
    1969
    Katherine C. White (Reswick), [1929-1980], Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1969-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, cat. no. 231.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. 1969 Year in Review. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 57, no. 1, cat. 132.
    Drewal, Henry John. African Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1989, fig.10.
    Petridis, Constantine. "A New Installation for African Art in Cleveland." Tribal 3, no. 36 (Autumn/Winter 2004): 68-73
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art., 151, 1991b.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 412 archive.org
    Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 39, p. 108 - 109
    "Current Exhibitions", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 43 no. 08, October 2003 Reproduced: p. 2 archive.org
    "A Walking Tour: The entire new museum wing by wing, with curators calling out a few favorite works in the collection.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 1 (January/February 2014): 8-33. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 12 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters : 2016-17 Companion Guide. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 14
    Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019 Reproduced: p. 12, (detail); p. 60, pl. 6; mentioned: p. 22, 29, 31. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
    Smith, Fred T., Judith Perani, Joseph L. Underwood, and Martha J. Ehrlich. The Visual Arts of Africa : Gender, Power, and Life Cycle Rituals. Second edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 254-255, no. 9.4
  • Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1, 2020-March 14, 2021).
    CMA 1991: Handbook, 1991, p. 151.
    CMA 1978: Handbook, 1978, p. 412.
    Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
    CMA 1970: "Year in Review 1969," CMA Bulletin LVII (Jan., 1970), p. 47, no. 132, repr. p. 42.
    CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 231, repr.
  • {{cite web|title=Mask (ndeemba)|url=false|author=|year=early 1900s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.8