Lukwakongo Mask - Lega - DR Congo

Lukwakongo Mask – Lega – Democratic Republic of the Congo Origin: Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa), regions of North Kivu and Maniema Culture / Ethnicity: Lega Material: Carved wood, pigments and traces of kaolin Support: Work supplied with its original presentation base, custom-made. - An exclusive, richly illustrated catalog accompanies the Wirtz Collection, with a detailed notice devoted to each of the works presented. (available on request) - Unpublished: Date-stamped and signed composition, titled After the Wirtz collection, offering a pictorial evocation of the interior of the collection as it might have been represented in 1965. Provenance Former private collection of a member of the Wirtz family, Antwerp (Belgium), a family historically active in the travel sector. According to information provided directly by her heir, this object is said to have been brought back from the Congo in the 1960s, then kept within the family. The family collection was carefully preserved and displayed in a room entirely dedicated, arranged in the spirit of a private cabinet of curiosities, where the works were gathered and highlighted in an environment specially devoted to their presentation. Acquired directly from the heir, with whom this sale is conducted in collaboration. Description & Study of the Work Anthropomorphic Lukwakongo mask, attributed to the Lega of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Lukwakongo belongs to the initiatory world of the Bwami society, a fundamental institution of Lega society. Objects and masks associated with Bwami contributed to the transmission of moral, philosophical and social teachings, with each form able to function as a vessel of knowledge and as a marker of initiatory progression. This specimen captivates with an almost absolute formal simplicity. The oval face is reduced to a few essential elements: a long sculpted nasal ridge in strong relief, large ocular zones treated in flat areas, and a mouth only suggested by a fine incision. The facial composition is organized around a nearly heart-shaped structure, outlined by the brow ridges, the nose and the planes of the cheeks. This extremely pared-down geometry is characteristic of Lega aesthetics, in which the power of a work often rests less on the accumulation of details than on the precision and legibility of a few essential shapes. The surface today shows a beautiful brown-beige patina, animated by traces of pigments and kaolin. This ancient and irregular material gives the face a silent, almost timeless presence, where the expression seems more suggested than truly represented. The profile notably reveals the quality of the sculpture: the nose protrudes powerfully from a deliberately flat face, creating with great economy of means a remarkable play of shadows and light. Several perforations are visible along the rim. On Lukwakongo masks, such openings could allow the fixation of complementary elements, notably fibers, or participate in the display and use arrangement of the object in its initiatory context. The work possesses remarkable strength through its sobriety: here, everything rests on balance, frontal stance and the purity of the sign. An unexpectedly modern Lega mask, whose sobriety gives the face an especially enigmatic and contemplative presence.

Estimate:$560.11

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