Chimpanzee Mask - Hemba People - Congo -SOLD

Price: $0.00


 


Masks like this one are called "Mwisi Gwa So'o," or "Spirit-invested object of the chimpanzee." They appear at funerals wearing black & white Colobus monkey hair & pelts from both domestic & wild animals. The mask is symbolic of the untouched and untamed wilderness. The funeral is of crucial importance in the reconciliation between the living and the dead. Like death, the mask disturbs peace and harmony to later restore the normal order of things. The function of the mask is to run around the village frightening youngsters & pregnant women away. Then at a second stage it performs amid the spectators and amuses the crowds by its antics, accompanied by the sound of the drum and songs. The monkey is thus presented as a symbol of the passage of the deceased to the other world.

39"H x 7"W x 9"D

NOTE: This piece comes mounted on a stand.
Sold - It has gone to a good home!