Lot: 313

93rd Tribal Art Auction

Mask "kifwebe"

D. R. Congo, Songe

Provenance Size Starting price / estimated price
Hermann Sommerhage, Duisburg, Germany H: 18.1 inch This object is not available anymore.

wood, plant fibre, base

This variant of a "kifwebe" mask of narrow form and with a broad striped pattern in black, white and red, is located by Marc Leo Felix to the eastern Songe, which live along the Lualaba river.

"Kifwebe" masks basically depict supernatural beings, such as ancestor spirits "katotoshi" visiting their descendants. They belong to an association which bears the same name, "bwadi ka bifwebe".


Felix, Marc L., Beauty and the beasts, Brussels 2003, p. 43, ill. 24a