Kwele Zuom mask
African mask of the Kwele in Gabon. This is a zuom type mask representing the buffalo with curved horns.
The traditional Bakwele masks, of different shapes, were all more or less directly linked to the male initiation society of the beete, which brought together notables and warriors.
Its rites, organized for community occasions (initiations, funerals, bereavements, hunts, etc.), made it possible to mobilize the magical forces of the ancestors and the spirits of the forest in order to resolve crisis situations or more usually to favor life. collective of the village; especially hunting (the favorite activity of the Kwele who live in an environment of great equatorial forest, this one being particularly rich in game, in the north of Congo-Brazzaville, in the basin of Djah and Ngoko).
Possession of these masks was a mark of social and political power.
Some of these objects were used during public dances, but many others were kept in secret as emblems of notability, these masks not showing any patina of use.
02294
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- 20th c.
- Size
- 28 cm (39 cm with support)
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood, kaolin
- Country
- Origin
- Tribal art collection Belgium
- Stand
- Included
- Condition
- Excellent
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African mask of the Kwele in Gabon. This is a zuom type mask representing the buffalo with curved horns.
The traditional Bakwele masks, of different shapes, were all more or less directly linked to the male initiation society of the beete, which brought together notables and warriors.
Its rites, organized for community occasions (initiations, funerals, bereavements, hunts, etc.), made it possible to mobilize the magical forces of the ancestors and the spirits of the forest in order to resolve crisis situations or more usually to favor life. collective of the village; especially hunting (the favorite activity of the Kwele who live in an environment of great equatorial forest, this one being particularly rich in game, in the north of Congo-Brazzaville, in the basin of Djah and Ngoko).
Possession of these masks was a mark of social and political power.
Some of these objects were used during public dances, but many others were kept in secret as emblems of notability, these masks not showing any patina of use.