African Arts Gallery

This African introductory mask, Mbuya , emanates from the Western Pende whose influence Yaka is notable for the slightly upturned nose, the line of eyebrows emanating from the neighboring Chokwe. Easily identifiable by its hairstyle consisting of four horns whose movements accompanied the jerky dance, this mask expresses the masculine and feminine qualities of the chef. This mask is stylistically very close to the Pumbu , but with rounder horns and slightly softer features. (Pende, Strother) The mask Pumbu embodies, to protect himself from the vengeance of his prey, the spirit of a big game hunter, and the executor who willingly shed human blood, Ngunza. For the Central Pende its Pundu mask is besides very different in its formal appearance. This African mask Pendé Fumu sports a chin strap made of raffia canvas, while the woven fabric, attached to the back of the room, had to conceal the neck of the wearer. Total height on adapted base: 47 cm. The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Easterners settled on the banks of the Kasai downstream from Tshikapa. The influences of the neighbouring ethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba and Salempasu, were imprinted on their large tribal art sculpture. Within this diversity the masques Mbuya, realistic, produced every ten years, have a festive function, and embody different characters, including the head fumu or ufumu, the soothsayer and his wife, the prostitute, the jester, tundu, the possessed, etc. The Mbuya initiation masks linked to the initiation mukanda and those of power, the minganji, represent the ancestors and occur successively during the same ceremonies, agricultural festivals, rituals of initiation and circumcision mukanda, induction of the chief. (Art and Life in Africa, C.D. Roy) Mercier Collection:
Monsieur Jean-Charles Mercier, a company director, has decided to part with his first art collection. It was his grandfather, Guy Mercier, who started it at the beginning of the 20th century. A consultant for the Solvay Group, he has been working throughout West and Central Africa. Although he has collected in-situ works, the majority of his collection is derived from Curiosity cabinets European capitals during the 1920s, but also prestigious galleries (Paris, Brussels, London, New York). After the death of his grandfather in the early 1980s, Jean-Charles inherited this collection of primitive African art in its entirety.