Masquette Lukwakongo, Lega, D.R.C.

Ancient masquette with an oval heart-shaped face. The forehead is high and the arched superciliary arches join and extend towards the nasal bridge. The mouth is half-open and the eyes are shaped like coffee beans. The stylized face was enhanced with white pigment, traces of which remain. It is still equipped with a suspension link and a long beard of vegetable fibers.
These small masks called "Lukwakongo" are in reality grade masks that were used during initiation rites.
Wood with a beautiful patina of use, slight lacks, especially at the back, pigment, vegetable fibers.
H: 13 cm, with the base: 37 cm
Lega people, Democratic Republic of Congo.
First half of the 20th century
Provenance : - Collected in-situ by the American pastor Samuel Vinton of the Protestant church " Grace Ministries International " . The Reverend Pastor Vinton Samuel, known as "BABA VI" was born on December 3, 1907, and arrived in the Congo in 1928. He first settled in Shabunda in Kivu and then in 1933 he went to Kama where he built the first house of the protestant mission. Around 1939 he opened a maternity hospital and in 1942 a leprosarium. In 1931, he went to France to attend the Tropical Medical School in Paris. He returned to the Kama mission until 2004 when he returned to the United States for medical care. He died there on January 2, 2005 at the age of 98. He was awarded the National Order of the Leopard in 1988 by President Mobutu and the Order of the Crown by Belgium. He wanted to defend the BAMI (customary chiefs) whose ceremonies were forbidden by the Belgian colonial administration (see photos).

Ref: DKUN09P8WH