Kuba Beadwork Mukenga Headdress

Kuba peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo, mid-20th century, raffia, carved wood, polychrome seed beads, shells, fiber textiles, palm fibers.

21 x 19 x 19 in.

From the Collection of Turquoise Erving, Winston Salem, North Carolina

These masks represent the Kuba kingdom’s mythological founding ancestors and the fundamental roles of the nyeem, women, and commoners in society. With its abundant cowrie shells and symbolic elephant’s trunk, this mask is the most important of the Kuba royal masks and emphasizes the wealth and power of the nyeem (king).

Literature/Source: Saint Louis Art Museum, Arts of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Collection, object number 289:1982.

Some minor surface soiling;