A «Mwana Pwo» Mask

A «Mwana Pwo» Mask
wood, fibers
mask representing the ideal of female beauty, used by professional dancers in various types of ceremonies
Angolan - Tshokwe
20th C. (1st quarter)
missing headdress and neck netting, other faults and defects
possibly from Luena, Moxico Province
Dimensões (altura x comprimento x largura) - 17,5 cm
Notes: Provenance: Collection of Engineer Elísio Romariz dos Santos Silva, item number 186, mentioned in the notebook of the collector «Angola - Arte Negra, Relação e descrição das peças», identified in it as «Máscara Muana Pwó»: "Well-sculpted protruding ears with pierced lobes; thin, upturned nose, with large, well-designed nostrils; open mouth with two rows of teeth; pointed, projecting chin. Decoration: on the forehead, from one ear to the other a symmetricaldecoration  made with incisions that intersect (?) obliquely, with an undecorated space in the centre Tattoos: under the ears, on the forehead: variant of «Txiguelenguele» or «Samanana» characteristic of the Tshokwe (?). [...] On the faces: a tattoo on each side, symmetrical. [...] Offered by Jorge de Jesus Mouta, [...] on 6/3/72. This mask had been offered to him by an old merchant from Luena who had owned it for many years [...]. Comparing this piece with others that I had or have and that I saw up close, it seems to me that this one is lighter, which results from being much less thick, which is very clearly seen in the part of the faces that are broken, where the wood is not even 1 millimeter thick. Is this low thickness of the mask a feature of antiquity? I think so." For the same type of mask vd. REDINHA, José - "Album Etnográfico Portugal-Angola". Luanda: C.I.T.A, 1971, p. 91 (como "Muana-Mpuo"); JORDÁN, Manuel - "Os Tshokwe e Povos Aparentados". In "Na presença dos Espíritos - Arte Africana do Museu Nacional de Etnologia, Lisboa". New York: Museum for African Art, Snoeck-Ducaju, 2000, pp. 100-102, cat. 73-75; BASTIN, Marie-Louise. "La sculpture Tshokwe”. Arcueil: Alain et Françoise Chaffin, 1982, pp. 100-103, fig. 40-45 (como "Masque Pwo"/"Pwo"); the catalogue "Escultura Angolana - Memorial de Culturas". Lisboa: Museu Nacional de Etnologia - Sociedade Lisboa 94, 1994, pp. 143-144, nº 162-164; LIMA, Mesquitela de - "Os Akixi (Mascarados) do Nordeste de Angola" In "Diamag - Publicações Culturais nº 70". Lisboa: Companhia de Diamantes de Angola - Serviços Culturais Dundo - Lunda - Angola - Museu do Dundo, 1967, pp. 151 e 153, nº 11-15 (como "Mukixi wa Pwó"); FELIX, Marc Leo. - "100 Peoples of Zaire and Their Sculpture: The Handbook”. Brussels: Zaire Basin Art History Research Foundation, 1987, p. 183, fig. 15; the auction catalogue held on February 1, 2023 at Lempertz "Art of Arfrica, the Pacific and the Americas". Brussels: Lempertz, 2023, lote 42; and https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/319264? ft=Pwo&offset=0&rpp=40&pos =1,