Mwaash aMbooy Mask
The Founder Kuba King
Kuba Kingdom, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Usually covered with Cowrie shells, beads, leopard skin, fabric, this
one is only in wood and fibers, the cowries beeing carved in the wood. The horn
has been restored.
Provenance: Roger Londoy, collected before 1952 . Size: 44 cm high without
the fiber beard
Price : sold Mwaash
aMbooy Request of availability
The moshambwooy mask represents the primal ancestor Woot, the first human and
bringer of civilization, who founded the ruling Bushoong dynasty of the Kuba
kingdom.
Each Kuba king and sub-chief owns a Moshambwooy mask and wears it
ceremonially, thus presenting his dynastic legitimacy . The king wears this mask
during royal ceremonies and at boy's initiation rites when he receives homage
from the nobility and people of his kingdom.
The mask's rich decoration of cowrie shells, beads, and leopard skin
indicates its royal status. White fur, missing on this mask, is attached below
the chin of the mask to signify the wisdom that rulers gain from experience. The
mask is part of a full body costume, made of blue and white colored beads (blue
signifies high rank, white signifies purity), cowrie shells, leopard skins, and
feathers of eagles and parrots to display the king's unique wealth and status.
The king's dance is slow and stately, as befits a man full of gravity and
wisdom. When kings died, the mask was placed on a royal effigy to represent him,
and kings where often buried with the mask.
Three Royal Kuba Masks: Ngady a mwaash, Bwoom, Mosh' ambooy mu
shall (Picture taken at Mushenge in 1909)
Click on thumbs below to enlarge.
Price:SOLD
Mwaash
aMbooy Request of availability
Mwaash
aMbooy Request of availability
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