White Face Mask

Origin: Bakongo Tribe, D.R. Congo
Composition: wood, tacks, kaolin pigment dye

The Bakongo tribe have carved very lifelike masks with white pigment that were associated with the spirit world. Some of the Bakongo masks which we have sourced in the Congo are some of the most evocative, powerful of all the African masks in our collection. Most Bakongo masks are made for sale. There is a considerable amount of interplay between artistry of the Yombe as well, as is evidenced in this mask. A very nice mask.

During the 13th century, the Kongo people were led by their king, Ne Kongo, to a vast area across three frontiers, where they settled. Their kingdom expanded rapidly and, by the end of the 16th century, it engulfed the Atlantic Coast of present-day Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and Angola.

In 1482, Portuguese sailors arrived at the royal court in Mbanza Congo and eventually converted the Kongo king to Christianity in 1491. By the end of the 16th century, the kingdom was weakened and its demise came with the death of the last Kongo king. Don Antonio II, in 1957. Today, the Kongo people number three million. Originally, the Kongo kingdom comprised a number of separate tribes- the Vili, the Yombe, the Beembe, the Bwende and the Woyo, among others which were led by a king, the Ntotela, who was elected by a council of governors. The Ntotela controlled the nominations for official positions at court and in the provinces. The main economic resources of the empire were ivory, copper and the slave trade (Bacquart, Tribal Arts of Africa).