Lega mask, Democratic Republic of Congo

Beautiful Idimu mask, very beautiful proportions with a pear-shaped face, within which is inscribed the hollowed out "heart" face, drawn by the lines of the browbones meeting at the base of the right nose. Eyes split in coffee bean, beautiful checkerboard scarifications on the cheeks and on the forehead. It offers a beautiful opposition between the softness of the curves of the face and the power of its angular and prominent features. Remains of an old beard. Patina nuanced honey, with traces of kaolin around the eyes and in the hollows of the scarifications. These masks have a major role in the institution of Bwami - initiatory association which structures the different Lega groups. Unlike masks (the size of which does not exceed the palm of the hand), large wooden masks do not belong to individuals but to "a community of initiates united by ties of kinship and territoriality" (Biebuyck , La sculpture des Lega, 1994, p. 53). They are divided into two types - idimu et muminia - whose distinction is difficult to establish in the absence of collection information. During the rituals, these sacred initiation objects are either worn on the face or high on the forehead or simply hung on a fence or pala, in the midst of other smaller masks of which he was both the ancestor. and the protector.

Origin
Ex private collection from the south of France.

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