The Eastern Bembe live in eastern Congo by Lake Tanganyika. The present, typical helmet mask is called ‘Echawokaba’ and belongs to the ‘Alunga’ men's secret society. It represents a forest spirit, which promises a lucky hunt, and is used in rituals of the ancestor cult of the Eastern Bembe. The mask is made of light-coloured wood, carved from a single piece, dyed black, brown, white and red. Its round helmet, trimmed below with an all-round plinth with white and red rhombs, is separated into two faces with dominating sets of eyes. The four large eyes are oval-round, concave, bulging inwards and dyed white-red. Each eye displays a dark ‘star’ and a conical protruding, pierced pupil. Both faces, which lie opposite each other on the helmet, have a short nose and a round, protruding and pierced mouth each. Characteristic of these types of masks are also the four pairs of small horns on top of the helmet (one horn broken). The example offered here, an ‘Echawokaba’ or ‘Alunga’ mask, displays partly shiny usage patina and age-related cracks on all sides, which have been partly ‘sewn’ with rattan-stripes in old, original repairs. First half of the 20th century; h: 33 cm, DM: 23 cm (below). (ME)

Lit.: ‘The Tribal Arts of Africa’ by Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, ill. p. 155; ‘Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture’ by K.-F. Schädler, ill. p. 92.