br>This African Yaka mask, carved in soft wood, depicts a mythical antelope from local tales, patron saint of young initiates. Partially abraded burgundy brown velvety patina. Losses and desication cracks. Height on base: 73 cm. Hierarchical and authoritarian, made up of formidable warriors, the Yaka society, now established on the banks of the Waamba in the south west of the DRC (Kasai Occidental), was governed by lineage leaders with the right to life and death over their subjects. Hunting and the prestige that results from it are nowadays an opportunity for the Yaka to invoke the ancestors and to resort to rituals using charms linked to the "khosi" institution. The initiation ceremony for young people is called n-khanda, which is found among the eastern Kongo (Chokwe, Luba, etc.), and which uses various charms and masks in order to to ensure a vigorous lineage. Yaka (kalaweni) blacksmith-sculptors were rewarded for their skill by the chiefs. Ref. : C.M.Faïk-Nzuji, The Power of the Sacred; Yaka , Arthur P.Bourgeois , "Tribal Art", Bacquart.
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