FACE MASK - Tchokwé culture?, Democratic Republic of Congo - First half of the 20th century

FACIAL MASK

Culture Tchokwé?, Democratic Republic of Congo

First half of the 20th century

Copper alloy

H.: 24; L.: 15 cm

Face mask in thick copper alloy made using the lost wax technique. It is of oval cheese, tapering on the mental part and equipped with almond-shaped eyes in strong relief, surrounded by four fine rings, temples decorated with rectangular checkerboard scarifications, a frontal edge in relief animated with hatching, a long, angular nose, decorated on the lower part with three horizontal incisions, a mouth with lips individualized from one another and two cutouts on the cheekbones in the shape of an inverted triangle.

The small ears are pierced three times.

Text and photos © FCP CORIDON