Tribal Art

African mask intended for the highest ranks of the Nsubi society, the latter also initiating wives. This mask whose reliefs are composed of the eyebrow arches and the nose borrows certain features from the Kumu masks and Mbole. The velvety patina forms a locally flaking crusty film. Height on base: 44 cm.
Mingled by alliance with the Lega, Ngengele and Zimba, the Songola are governed by the elders of the lineages. They borrowed from the Luba and Songye the institution Luhuna composed of dignitaries and that of Bwami by their lega wives. The Songola live by hunting and fishing, they devote themselves to sculpture, although the objects associated with the Bwami cult come from the Lega. Among their reduced statuary, the figures of ancestors of the Nsubi society evoke those of the Mbole, other sculptures were kept in baskets as among the Lega. Masks such as ours were used during Nsindi initiation rites