[wpsgallery]
S O L D
Kuyu Wood Headdress
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Brazzavile)
For the Kebe-kebe masquerade
Wood, pigments, high 45 cm.
P R O V E N A N C E:
Mr. Arthur Savege, ex teacher, Oxford University, Ealing, West London, UK
Kuyu Wood Headdress, the face with carved teeth, with engraved narrow eyes below grooved brows, a carved disc on the forehead, with cross-hatched domed coiffure, two bands of scorched engraved chevrons about the neck, painted in colors.
Under the protection of Ebongo, the great serpent, the eastern Kuyu honor him with a ceremony during which headdresses such as the present example are danced by costumed men. First to appear are the Euya, “snakeman”, then come Ebotita, “the mother”, and Djoku, “the father” whose carved head is surmounted by a lizard. The last to appears is Ebongo whose head is projected upward fifteen feet or higher by a conical structure of woven fiber.
