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An Old Kwele EKUK Antelope Mask, Rare Vertical Horns and Slit Eyes
Antique African Art - Tribal Masque - Mali
Collected from the: Kwele peoples from the Gabon Republic of Congo border region of Central Africa
Material: Hardwood, pigment, kaolin
Period: Early 20th century
Dimensions: 25.25" height, 13" width, 3.5" depth; weight is 3.20 pounds
Condition: Exceptional. From a private Parisian collection, exquisite signs of age and wear, exposed wood displays significant patination. Make special note of the slit coffee-bean eyes and vertical horns ~ an extremely rare presentation of form as explained in the notes below. Beautifully burnished skin oil patina at forehead indicative of frequent indigenous handling ~ an altogether spectacular specimen !
Please click on the photos below to fully appreciate this delightful old masque!
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Kwele Mask Traditions and Use
With their zoomorphic or anthropomorphic traits, or a combination of the two, Kwele masks were believed to represent benevolent forest spirits. Their faces were traditionally painted with white kaolin (clay) earth, a pigment the Kwele associated with light and clarity, the two essential factors in the fight against evil. Kwele masks are considered rare and fewer still were created with eye slits suitable for wear as a face mask. Limited field research has shown, however, that masks used in Kwele ceremonies had no eye apertures and were merely shown to the onlookers rather than being worn. The more anthropomorphic masks with curved horns were interpreted as antelope representations by Perrois, though Siroto thought the same to be rams. No explanation for the underlying belief system was provided by either. An extremely rare version of Kwele mask featured fairly vertical horns which evidently represented an antelope. Though no information concerning their function and significance was made available, it has been assumed that, like other Kwele mask types, they embodied spirits of the bush.
Information on the Kwele Tribal Peoples of Gabon
The Kwele peoples, a little-investigated ethnic group of northeast Gabon and the adjacent northern frontier of the Republic of Congo, produced a famous mask type known as Ekuk which featured a flat surface, often with a whitened heart-shaped face, a triangular nose and coffee-bean eyes. Ekuk masks were hung in Kwele houses and ~ rarely ~ worn during dances related to the initiation ceremonies of the Bwete cult, an association which maintained social order. The masks primary function was to "warm up" the village atmosphere in order to activate the beneficial forces resident in the Bwete box. The Bwete rituals and mask use died out around 1920 after concerted action by the French colonial administration and the Catholic missions.
Recommended Reading:
Africa: The Art of a Continent, African Masks of the Barbier Mueller Collection and Tribal Arts of Africa.
Cat. # dm14
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