DRC/Pende. Mask of disease "Mbangu" in carved... Lot 16

DRC/Pende. Mask of disease "Mbangu" in carved wood. Middle of the 20th century. H 33 X 20 cm including base. This "Mbangu" mask, the bewitched one, is probably the most famous work of Pende art, of which a comparable example is kept at the Africa Museum in Tervuren. It depicts a bewitched man, stricken by a series of diseases or deformities inflicted on him by sorcerers. The face shows the marks of facial nerve paralysis. Despite this deformity, the distinctive characteristics of the Katundu style of this region are preserved: the eyebrow line in the shape of an inverted "W", the triangular nose and the pointed chin.