Bindji Kibwabwabwa or Mukanda Society Mask, Based

The boys went away to be made into men. The masks appeared at the ceremony.

Mukanda is the name widely given in the region to the initiation through which boys are brought into adulthood. This painted wooden mask from the Democratic Republic of Congo is associated with the kibwabwabwa or mukanda society. The oval face tapers to a pointed chin beneath a smooth domed brow. Heavy-lidded eyes are ringed in thick white kaolin, set off by bands of red across the cheeks, and the small rectangular mouth is picked out in white. The dark wood is worn at brow and chin.

Twenty-one and a half inches on a custom base. It looks past the crowd.