African Arts Gallery

Among the great stylistic variety of Zande sculptures, this African mask bears linear marks referring to the keloids in use. Under the slightly overhanging forehead, the eyes are simply hollowed out in an almond shape, the wide, triangular nose, and the hollowed, incised mouth, lets imagine the teeth. Chipped polychrome patina.
Height on base: 39 cm.
Formerly designated under the name "Niam-Niam" because considered as cannibals, the tribes grouped under the name of Zande, Azandé, settled, coming from Chad, on the border of the R.D.C. (Zaire), Sudan and the Central African Republic. According to their beliefs, man is endowed with two souls, one of which is transformed upon his death into an animal-totem of the clan to which he belongs. The African tribal art of the Zande, or "those who own a lot of land", apart from their court art consisting of spoons, receptacles, pipes and harps, counts two types of statues: Kudu statues with a height between 30 and 50 cm represent ancestors. There are also so-called Yanda statues of 10 to 20 cm, in animal or human form, having an apotropaic role, exhibited during the divinatory rites during the rituals of the Mani-Yanda society.