Chokwe - African Chokwe Mask Congo - Vendu

 Tribal Used African Chokwe Mask.

Hand carved from a single piece.

Height: 34 cm.

Taxatiewaarde:  150 - 175 euro

The professional standard is not included in the auction. You can order it there for 29.85 euros.

One million Chokwe (at least 30 different spellings -- all based upon the name these people call themselves, Kocokwe, in plural Tucokwe) have spread out over a wide area in the eastern Angola, southern DRC and Zambia. Their history dated back to the 15th century, when a Lunda queen married a Luba prince Chibinda Ilunga. A significant member of the Lunda aristocracy so disapproved of the marriage that they migrated south to present-day Angola. Once settled, they founded several kingdoms, each headed by a god-king. Around 1860, following a major famine, the Chokwe people migrated back and settled in Angola, at the source of the Kwangi, Kasai and Lungwe rivers. The Chokwe are governed by a king called Mwana Ngana, who distributes hunting and cultivation areas. The male Mugonge and female Ukule societies regulate their social life. They are vigorous and courageous hunters and agriculturists, who used formerly to engage in the slave trade. Their dynamic spirit is also reflected in their art.

Chokwe sculptors were the most famous of the region; there were two types. The songi made jinga charms, the small mahamba figures for the family shrines, and all objects used for hunting, love, magic, and fertility. In addition to the folk art, somewhat rigid and giving no illusion of depth, there existed also the ancient refined culture of the court, expressed with conviction by professional artists the fuli. They were hired by the great chieftainries and worked exclusively for the court. They sculpted scepters, thrones with figurines, fans, tobacco boxes, pipes, flyswats, cups, and figures of chiefs or ancestors – all demonstrating a great deal of refinement. They were famous for their large statues of deified ancestors, exalting strength and dignity. The best-known representation of a chief is of Chibinda Ilunga. He was a wandering hunter, youngest son of the great Luba chief Kalala Ilunga. He got married a Lunda queen Lueji. Chibinda Ilunga was the start of the sacred dynasty of the Mwata Yamvo of the Lunda and became the model of the hunting and civilizing hero, sometimes represented seated on a throne, sometimes as standing naked or dressed as a hunter. As statues of him were sculpted after the introduction of firearms, generally the standing figure is holding a stone rifle in his left hand and a stick, called cisokolu, in his right. Chibinda Ilunga’s body is stocky, with legs bent, shoulder blades clearly drawn, the neck wide and powerful, the navel protruding. He wears an enormous hairdo, the sign of princely rank. The social organization, founded upon matrilineal lineages, has an equally large number of female statues, whether these be identified as the queen mother or a chief’s wife.

stand not including