*Mask, Kongo, Democratic Republic of Congo... - Lot 107 - De Baecque et Associés

Lot 107
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Estimation :
30000 - 40000 EUR
*Mask, Kongo, Democratic Republic of Congo... - Lot 107 - De Baecque et Associés
*Mask, Kongo, Democratic Republic of Congo H. 35 cm Provenance Pierre Loeb Collection, Paris Collection Marie-Ange Ciolkowska, Paris Private collection, Switzerland Bibliography : Tribal Arts, VII: 2, Winter 2001 / Spring 2002, p. 31. Work of art supporting spiritual entity, spectacle of invisible forces, badge of political power, symbolism linked to initiatory rites, and ancestral cults, the sculptural art of the Kongo embodies these pluralities through the diversity of representations. The Kongo believe in the existence of a supreme being named Nzambi Mpungu, embodying the highest spiritual entity, creator of the whole, he would be the origin of life and death. His quality of supreme being, his transcendental character, distances him from the earth, elevates him to the Yilu sky, and as a result, no cult is paid to him, no plastic representation is dedicated to him, no sanctuary and no ceremony can influence him. True cosmic genius, impersonal force, it exists beyond and beyond the visible world. Incarnation of a particular spirit the mask is by its additional elements and its representation the manifestation of a power emanating from a supernatural world. This force of which it is the representation confers its sacredness to him. The Kongo, more precisely the Woyo (Ngoyo), have known a sacred kingship, in order to assert his authority, to establish order and to ensure peace between the different communities, the king as Marc Leo Félix explains, supported his power and guaranteed it thanks to institutions that were linked to him and notably that of the named Ndunga, which "constituted one of his institutions on which rested the strength and the domination of the king". Intended to ensure peace and order within the community, the Ndunga society, through the prism of its masks, re-established justice while presenting itself as the executor of the king's order. A true attribute of the king, the mask participated in all the important events of royalty: investiture, burial, and the rites of installation of the genies of the earth. According to Marc Léo Félix, "Each type of mask is recognizable by the accessories it wears and the additional elements that accompany its costume... Just like the colors that adorn the masks, which have a symbolic value in relation to the mask and the mission that is assigned to it. It is in fact according to these elements that a name is attributed to each mask." (Art & Kongo, 1995, p. 71), these attributes whose symbolic value is known determine the function of the mask. The association of color remains in relation to the institution and the mission assigned to each mask. According to Volavska (35-36), "taken alone, white symbolizes fortune, the remedy, health; red is blood, the woman, danger, black symbolizes misfortune. The mask would be, in light of the colors presented in it, the embodiment of an institution acting for the benefit of the community by fighting evil." To eliminate the ordering and choice of colors, their arrangement would be to restrict the semantic field of the Ndunga and truncate the interpretation of the role of masks that this society has shaped. If no other mask presenting this form, this typology could be identified, attesting to its rarity as well as the bold inventiveness of its sculptor, some of its elements such as: the choice of colors of pigments, and facial (ears, shape of the face corresponding to drawings by M-L. Félix referenced in his work, Art & Kongo, p.142, figure 9), would probably allow it to be attributed to the Ndunga society. Flat surfaces in structured layers, certainly corresponding to a codified symbolism (see Volavska), of white, red and black, cutting out and animating the face with dynamism and mystery. The colored lines emphasize the salient features such as the nose, while forming some elements of the face; eyelids, eyebrows, upper lip. Imposing prestige conferred by: the marriage of form and volume, the rounded forehead, the rounded skull, the size of the cavities forming the eyes, by the projection of certain elements of the face in space and in particular, the rectangular nasal bridge in high relief, the large flattened rounded ears presented in front. Below the bulging forehead are hollowed out lenticular eyes sublimated by a colored border. The half-open mouth, bordered by small lips in relief, seems to whisper and is inscribed in a beautiful oval. The mask has a fabric beard, attached by plant fibers to perforated holes intended for this purpose. The senses of the mask seem to be symbolically emphasized by the stylistic treatment of the elements that make it up, notably sight and hearing, giving it all its vitality. The power of its volumes is matched by its expressive force, giving it a sacred quality. Lot in temporary importation and
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