Face mask
date: label: Date
content: Mid 19th century
name: label: Maker
content: Bembe artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: Human and animal characteristics are brought together in this unusual and fairly rare face mask from the Bembe region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Masks of this type may include birdlike characteristics and/or carved antelope or buffalo horns. The horns on this example are broken, making any such identification impossible. Although its function is uncertain, the mask may have been used in circumcision rites or within the titled association known as Bwami.
label: Label Text
content: Masks somewhat similar in style are also found among the neighboring Nyindu.
label: Description
content: Wood face mask with broken horns projecting from the forehead, circular eyesockets and semicircular slit eyes. Incised linear marks divide the forehead, circle the eyes and flank the mouth. The mask has an overall dark color.
label: Exhibition History
content: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection Highlights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 21, 2009-June 4, 2014
label: Exhibition History
content: For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981
label: Published References
content: Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 234, no. 145.
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Democratic Republic of the Congo
topic: label: Topic
content: antelope
label: Topic
content: bushcow
label: Topic
content: male
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2005-6-189
objectType: label: Type
content: Mask
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Wood, resin pigment
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 22.2 x 16.2 x 7.9 cm (8 3/4 x 6 3/8 x 3 1/8 in.)