Masque kifwebe, Songye, République Démocratique du Congo

Collecté par Raoul Strythagen, administrateur territorial du Lomami, en 1920 ou 1921, dans la région de Tsofa Pania Mutombo 
Collection de Madame Strythagen
Collection Paul et Luisa Muller-Vanisterbeek, Bruxelles, 1969
Luisa Muller-Vanisterbeek, Bruxelles
Collection Alexis Bonew, Bruxelles, acquis en 1975

Good condition overall. Wear consistent with age and use within the culture. Tip of the mouth broken and glued in 2 places together with the rear portion of the headdress. One crack running along the upper proper left side of the mask, from the interior of the eye and all around to the rear (probably broken and glued). Consequent gap under proper left eye.Some scratches and abrasion over the surface. Few tiny insect holes in places. Beautiful glossy dark patina on reliefs contrasting with the dull recesses.
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L'audacieuse architecture des masques kifwebe est ici exaltée par la hardiesse des proportions et par l'exceptionnelle dynamique des volumes et des lignes, associée par Alexis Bonew à la musique de Jean-Sébastien Bach (Notes, 1987). Acquis par Paul et Luisa Muller-Vanisterbeek auprès de la veuve de l'administrateur territorial Raoul Strythagen, la date de sa collecte - à l'orée des années 1920 - et sa profonde patine d'usage viennent résolument bousculer la supposée évolution stylistique de ce saisissant corpus (Voir Hersak, Songye masks and figure sculpture, 2007, pl. 59, pour un masque formellement comparable mais dénué de patine, collecté avant 1936 et conservé au British Museum).

Les formes hautement symboliques des masques kifwebe s'interprètent à travers la cosmogonie Songye et les signes souvent ésotériques qui y sont associés, au premier rang desquels le python arc-en-ciel, lié à la manifestation des ancêtres (François Neyt, La redoutable statuaire Songye d'Afrique centrale, 2004, p. 362). Ce masque masculin kifwebe balume est caractérisé par sa crête sagittale, "renvoyant aux montagnes et à la direction de l'est d'où provient le soleil [auquel] il est associé. [...] Les raies et les stries sont des réminiscences du parcours labyrinthique des initiés durant l'initiation du Bukishi" (idem). Tandis que l'association des masques se présentait comme un organe de contrôle renforçant le pouvoir des chefs et des notables, ces composantes symboliques et la puissante architecture du masque "exprimaient une forme de beauté mêlée d'effroi et de grandeur", ici saisissante. 

Songye kifwebe mask, Democratic Republic of the Congo

In this piece the daring architecture of Kifwebe masks is exalted by the boldness of the proportions and the exceptional dynamic in the volumes and lines, associée par Alexis Bonew à la musique de Jean-Sébastien Bach (Notes, 1987). Acquired by Paul and Luisa Muller-Vanisterbeek from the widow of territorial administrator Raoul Strythagen, the date of its collection - at the outset of the 1920s - and its deep patina pose an undeniable challenge to the alleged stylistic evolution of this striking corpus. (See Hersak, Songye masks and figure sculpture, 2007, pl. 59, for a formally comparable mask - but devoid of patina - collected before 1936 and kept at the British Museum).

The highly symbolic forms of Kifwebe masks are interpreted through the Songye cosmogony and the often esoteric signs associated with it, foremost among which the rainbow python, associated with the manifestation of ancestors. (François Neyt, La redoutable statuaire Songye d'Afrique centrale, 2004, p. 362). This male Kifwebe Balume mask is characterized by its sagittal crest, "evoking the mountains and the east, where the sun - with which it is associated - rises.  [...] The lines and grooves are reminiscent of the labyrinthine path of the initiates during the Bukishi initiation" (ibid). Whilst the association of the masks appeared as a controlling body, strengthening the power of leaders and notables, the symbolic components and powerful architecture of the mask "expressed a form of beauty mingled with terror and grandeur", which, in this piece, is nothing short of striking.