Jump to navigation
Mask
Suku Muntu
unidentified Congolese
Congolese
----
undated
The Hemba are best known for their beautiful figures of chiefs (CMS no. 124), which have been studied in detail by François Neyt. Hemba masks are less well known and we have only a few brief notes on their meaning. They may be called soko mutu (Neyt 1977:503, alternatively suku muntu ), meaning "brother of man" in Swahili, or ibombo ya soho "monkey face" in KiHemba, the Hemba language (Cornet 1978:310). Father Cornet indicates that they may not have been intended as face masks but as belt masks worn at the waist by a dancer. They are remarkable for their extreme stylization, with large, upward-slanting eyes, enormous, grinning mouth, and a nose that projects downward like a hook. This example is illustrated in Neyt's study of the Hemba (1977:ill. 112-113). -- Professor Christopher Roy, School of Art and Art History, University of Iowa
Southern Savannah Africa Congo (Zaire)
Hemba
Height: 8 1/2 inches Width: 3 1/4 inches
Wood
The Stanley Collection
University of Iowa. Stanley Museum of Art
x1986_407
U.S. and international copyright laws protect this digital image. Commercial use or distribution of the image is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder. For permission to use the digital image, please complete an image request form http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/forms/uima or contact the University of Iowa Museum of Art.
Contact the Stanley Museum of Art at the University of Iowa: https://stanleymuseum.uiowa.edu/about/contact/
wood (plant material)
183425165
Dances
Initiation