African Arts Gallery

Atypical mask with a narrow, gracefully oblong face that can make one think of an animal's snout. Zande masks were used during the funeral ceremonies of the mani society. Satin patina.
Formerly referred to as "Niam-Niam" because they were considered anthropophagous, the tribes grouped under the name of Zande , Azandé , settled, from Chad, on the border of the D.R.C.(Zaire), Sudan and the Central African Republic. According to their beliefs, man is endowed with two souls, one of which transforms into the animal-totem of the clan to which he belongs upon his death. The African tribal art of the Zande, or "those who own a lot of land", apart from their court art composed of spoons, receptacles, pipes and harps, has two types of statues: Kudu statues, 30 to 50 cm high, represent ancestors. There are also statues known as Yanda of 10 to 20 cm, of animal or human form, having an apotropaic role, exposed during the divinatory rites during the rituals of the Mani-Yanda society. The leaders of this association grouped about ten statues on an altar in a hut in the forest.