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ncient mask presenting a face whose expression is reinforced by the addition of white pigment. The nasal ridge that starts from the forehead is marked by scarification marks. This type of mask, quite rare, was used during initiation rites.
It was collected by Abbé Léon MONDRY (1921-2010) who was a teaching priest in the Belgian Congo. He arrived in Congo in 1947 and was assigned to Banalia, then to Opienge. He had collected objects to create a small museum in Buta in a mission of the Priest of the Sacred Heart founded in 1910. The collection has since been dispersed.
Wood with a beautiful patina of use, pigments. H : 33 cm
Around 1920 / 1930
Provenance : - Former Belgian collection acquired from a Zairean abbot who got it in Buta.
- Museum of Buta, D.R.C.
- collected in-situ by Abbé Léon Mondry
Sold with its base
Ref: 2PHJCDJ8X5