copper, cracks, defects in the casting, rest.

The Dinga are a small ethnic group, who have their settling area in the border region between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.

In art history they have become known by their hammer-wrought copper masks called "ngongo munene" ("chief of the earth"). The first report of these masks dates back to 1952 from the museum in Dundo (Angola). In 1953 the first could be photographed and around the 1980s finally, the first copper masks appeared on the art market.

The masks were used at the funerals of chiefs, the enthronement of a new chief and during the initiation of boys at the bush camps. They were kept by dignitaries "kafufutshi" in the special hut "kaseke ya shifulumiko", wrapped in a mat.

A characteristic feature is the concentric circle tattoo on the forehead or temples, hammered, often as raised dots or in a continuous line.
H: 29 cm, H: 11,4 inch

Provenance:
Old Belgian Collection

Lit.: Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, Brussels 1987, p. 30
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, Munich 2009, p. 179 f.
Continent: Africa

See description