Wood, brown red tokula pigments, raffia, black dyed vegetal fibers.
Dim: H18X L22 cm Height on stand 35 cm
Estimated age : 1930's-1950's
Condition: the fibers from the headdress are quite weak and fragile.
Realized in typical Central Pende style, this type of mask is believed to represent gambanda, the chief's wife. In light of Pende theories about gender and physiognomy, the mask is an ideal expression of a woman's facial features and thus reflects her calm, obedient, peaceful, and self-controlled demeanor. The intricate hairstyle consisting of hundreds of miniature twists imitates a once fashionable hairdo. The mask featured in the Cleveland Museum of Art's “Bedroom Eyes” article is a Gambanda mask from the Pende people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This wooden mask, likely created in the early 1900s, embodies the idealized feminine beauty and calm demeanor associated with the chief's wife in Pende culture. The intricate hairstyle, crafted from hundreds of miniature twists, mirrors a once-popular hairdo and symbolizes cultural ideals of feminity Traditionally, the Gambanda mask would have been used in communal performances involving multimedia elements and audience participation. These events served both to honor female figures within the community and to engage in social and spiritual rituals.
A Gambanda mask to be compared to a similar Pende Gambanda mask in the Cleveland Museum of Art that the museum estimate early 1900's – inv. nr: DSC08700
This female mask would have performed in a dancing collective event with whole tribe participation.
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