A "Bird" mask

A "Bird" mask
wood, fibers, fabric, plastic and glass beads
possibly a representative mask of the species «Bucorvus cafer» - southern ground hornbill
Angolan - Tshokwe
20th C. (2nd half)
wear, defects, wear patina
carved by the sculptor Savula and purchased in Sandando, Moxico province, in 1971
Dimensões (altura x comprimento x largura) - 30 cm
Notes: Provenance: Collection of Engineer Elísio Romariz dos Santos Silva, item number 175, mentioned in the notebook of the collector «Angola - Arte Negra, Relação e descrição das peças», identified in it as «Ngúngu»: "It represents a bird [...] (Bucorvus caffer). Ornithomorphic figure mask. [...] According to information from the owner of the mask and its sculptor Savula and the dancer who used it, Tchikua, this mukixe represents the bird Ngungu [...] The mask and costume (identical to Muana Pwó's) were wrapped in burlap, and the package placed inside the hut, in a corner, close to the ceiling. The dancer wore a very thick and heavy
«muia» (dancing belt) (a section of about 1 meter in perimeter) (part of the muia’s filling was made of stones), with a fur tail and several bells. It was the first ornithomorphic mask(?) from Angola that I saw [...]. Purchased on 18.3.71, in Sandando, [...] from its owner and sculptor Savula. The mask was used by the professional dancer Teluikua(?)." See bibliography referred to by the collector  - FELIX, Marc Leo. - "100 Peoples of Zaire and Their Sculpture: The Handbook”. Brussels: Zaire Basin Art History Research Foundation, 1987, p. 183, fig. 18.