The small ape masks, known as ‘Soko mutu’, of the Luba-Hemba, a related subgroup of the Luba, in southeastern Congo, are well known. These small ape masks were not worn in front of the face, but rather hung up or stored as protective amulets in houses. Small ‘Soko mutu’ masks frequently appear in western collections. There are also larger examples of ‘Soko mutu’ masks, which were worn and used for dancing. But such a large, impressively imposing and old ape mask of the Luba is an absolute, museum-quality rarity. This mask is made of light-coloured, hard, but relatively lightweight wood and probably depicts the head of a chimpanzee. The face of the ape, which is far greater than life-sized, is dyed black. The forehead, with its black eyebrows, projects outwards over the face. The flat head wears a ‘hairstyle’ with central parting, created out of narrow, grooved furrows slightly arched to the sides. The Songye, relatives of the Luba, carve very similar grooves on their well-known Kifwebe masks. The entire hairstyle, as well as the inside of the small ears at the side, are coloured in white by means of kaolin. The large, drooping eyelids are brown. Beneath the lids are narrow slits through which the masked dancer could look out. The wide, long neck of the mask is not coloured. This is because directly under the edge of the black ape face runs a line of attachment holes, into which the mask costume was fastened. Overall an extremely rare, fascinating object, with excellent, partly shiny, old usage patina and only minimal, age-related damage: a small, early original repair (in the right side of the ‘neck’ a small, rectangular piece of wood was inset, and glued with resin both outside and inside), two insignificant cracks on both exterior sides of the ‘hairstyle’. Otherwise no damage. H: 49 cm; W: 27 cm. Between c. 1900 and the first third of the 20th century.

Provenance: This mask comes originally from an old, private, colonial collection in Belgium. Currently: German Private Collection. (ME)