The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 20, 2025
Mask
c. 1940
Overall: 26.1 cm (10 1/4 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1976.179
Location: Not on view
Description
Kiphoko is a mask of healing and protection. Closely associated with the sacred regalia of chiefs, it is used at the conclusion of boys' initiations and at ceremonies venerating ancestors. The style of the eyes is quite similar to that of the Chokwe mask (1978.27), created by the Pende's southern neighbors.- Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 234.Petridis, Constantine. “Mbala, Tsaam, or Kwilu Pende? A Mother-and-Child Figure from the Kwango-Kwilu Region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 7 (2002): 126–141. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 132-133, fig. 11 www.jstor.org
- Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977).CMA 1977: "Year in Review 1976," CMA Bulletin LXIV (Feb., 1977), p. 73, no. 22.CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 234, repr.
- {{cite web|title=Mask|url=false|author=|year=c. 1940|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1976.179