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SAM'S collection

Mask (Ngady Mwaash)

Dateearly 20th century
Label TextGeometric order covers this female face. She also provided intellectual order in her role as oral historian and dance instructor. During events convened by royal patrons, viewers would admire her careful choreography and serenity. Parallel lines beneath her eyes are said to represent tears. Kuba history credits a Queen Ngokady with inventing this mask for men to wear, emblematic of the difficulties faced by a mythic woman who had an incestuous relationship with her royal brother.
Object number2001.45
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Disguise: Masks and Global African Art, June 18 - Sept. 7, 2015 (Los Angeles, California, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Oct. 18, 2015 - Mar. 13, 2016; Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Museum, Apr. 29 - Sept. 18, 2016).
Credit LineGift of the Christensen Fund
Dimensions15 x 8 x 10in. (38.1 x 20.3 x 25.4cm)
MediumRaffia, wood, fabric, cowrie shells, beads, polychrome, pearls
Mask: Acali
Ibo
Object number: 2005.55
Congolese
Object number: 2001.44
Mask ("Bonu Ameun")
Baule
Object number: 81.17.231
Kuba
Object number: 2001.47
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu culture
Object number: 81.17.887
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ngala culture
20th century
Object number: 2023.18.10
Kuba
Object number: 2001.42
Kuba
Object number: 2001.43
Female(?) figure
Songye culture, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Object number: 81.17.904
Democratic Republic of the Congo
20th century
Object number: 2009.2.2
Songye culture, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Object number: 81.17.135
Knife
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu culture
Object number: 81.17.1678