This is the rating and price for Mid 20Th C. Songye Wood Kifwebe Mask, 2002

Description : **Originally Listed At $1500** Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Songye peoples, ca. 1960s CE. A remarkable hand-carved wooden Kifwebe (mask in the Songye language) of a highly stylized form with meticulously carved linear motifs, a square protruding mouth, a prominent nasal crest that stretches over the top of the head, a straight nose decorated with a column of annular drill holes, and two narrow eyes. Painted with white, black, and red pigments, the intriguing vizard is adorned with a black coiffure or headdress and a red and black band placed just below the nose. Perforations along the edges likely held additional ornamentation or attached to a costume. The most well-known masks of the Songye culture are Kifwebe masks worn in connection with the secret society known as the Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe. The elite in the Songye culture are seen as those who know and practice witchcraft and sorcery in the society, and the striated lines of the mask can be read by certain individuals to decode some of this mystical knowledge. Additionally, the size of the crest atop the head indicates the potency of the magical power contained within. Size: 11.25 W x 18.875 H (28.6 cm x 47.9 cm) According to African and ethnology experts Iris Hahner-Herzog et al., Bifwebe (sing. Kifwebe) masks belong to the accoutrements of a society of the same name that to this day enjoys extreme respect among the eastern Songye. The society includes individuals with supernatural power (basha masende) who are believed to manipulate spirits by means of magical techniques. The masks, supplemented by a woven costume and a long beard of raffia bast, dance at various ceremonies. They are worn by men who act as police at the behest of a ruler, or to intimidate the enemy in case of war. (Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Maria Kecskesi, and Laszlo Vajda. African Masks from the Barbier-Mueller Collection, Geneva. Prestel Verlag, Munich, 2002, p. 212.) Provenance: private Houston, Texas, USA collection, acquired in 2011, ex- Hemingway Gallery, New York, New York, USA All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most Antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia.  For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm. #162801
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