A large ‘bwoom mask’ of the Kuba, from central Congo. Carved of hard, brown wood and completely dyed black.
The mask forms of the ‘bwoom’ belong to the three ‘royal’ masks of the Kuba (‘mwaash amboy’, tribe founder and king, ‘ngaady amwaash’, his wife and sister, as well as ‘bwoom’, the brother of the king, who envies ‘mwaash amboy’ his power and woman). ‘Bwoom’ is amongst the Kuba the most popular of the three ‘royal’ masks and is often performed alone.
The present, large ‘bwoom mask’ has all the characteristic features of this mask type: with a large, round hole on the top of the head, as air hole for the masked dancer. The hairstyle is broad and shows the typical ‘privy council corners’. The almond-shaped, slit eyes are provided with holes all round, through which the dancer looked. The nose is large and broad, the mouth carved in relief is small, and at the bottom the mask wears a semi-circular beard carved from the same piece. Above is a carrying band made of braided plant fibres. The special quality of this ‘bwoom’ is that it has none of the usually common decoration of cowrie shells, glass beads, fur, etc. It is undecorated, smooth and black. An impressively large, ‘puristic’ piece, with colour scuffing to the edges and exposed areas due to long use, as well as with a good patina outside and in the ‘helmet’ inside.
Height: c. 40 cm; width: c. 36 cm.First half of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance: Private collection of Jos Christiaens, Bruges, Belgium.

Lit.: ‘100 peolpes of Zaire and their sculpture’ by Marc L. Felix, p. 63, ill. 6, 9, 14.