This large ancestral mask, known as a Karan-wemba mask, consists of two elements – a mask depicting the head of the sacred antelope (Koba), surmounted by a female figure (Wemba). Karan-wemba masks were commissioned to honour a woman who had outlived her husband, and whose great age, wisdom and experience elevated her to the rank of ‘living ancestress’ (Wemba) – an intermediary between the living and the ancestors. Such masks would be performed at the ancestress’ funerals, where they would have been worn with a fibre costume, hiding the identity of the wearer.
Standing on the head of the Koba with slightly bent arms and knees, the carved figure depicts the Wemba at the height of her physical beauty, following the birth of her first child. Patterns of carved scarification markings appear to radiate upwards from the female figure’s pronounced navel, and a crescent-shaped coiffure crowns her oval-shaped face, which, in turn, is decorated with linear markings.
This mask previously belonged to the English costume designer, Anthony Powell, who collaborated with the director Steven Spielberg and Robert Carsen, and was honoured with Oscars for his designs for the 1978 production of ‘Death on the Nile’ and 1979 film ‘Tess’.
Ex Anthony Powell Collection
Estimated Period: First Half of 20th Century
Width: 20cm
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