A carved wooden box with fitted lid in the form of a mask face with elaborate carved details. Boxes such as these were for storing tukula--a reddish powder made from the bark of a tree. It was traditional created to store make up powder used to decorate the face and chest during dances, as well as to anoint bodies for burial. Boxes as these were also considered heirloom and ritual objects of prestige. Kuba peoples, Congo, central Africa. The Box measures 10.25 x 6 inches. Provenance: Ex Leonard Kahan Gallery, New York.

fair, weathered