© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAfrican Art

Mask, Giphogo

Place CreatedDemocratic Republic of the Congo, Africa

CulturePende

Date20th Century

MediumWood, pigment

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions9 7/16 x 8 3/16 x 10 1/2 in. (23.9 x 20.8 x 26.7 cm)

Object number1994.004.191

Label TextThese masks are illustrative of the different Pende mask forms. The style represented in the mask on the right originated in Katundu in the western region of Pende territory, although it was exported to other Pende regions and influenced the mask forms of neighboring peoples. This mask type, characterized by a swelling forehead, an unbroken V-shaped eyebrow line, downcast eyes, a small, slightly upturned nose, and small, thin-lipped mouth, was used in a wide range of festival performances for which it was rendered into a wide range of male and female characters. Throughout the Katundu region, miniature versions of the masks were also reproduced in wood and ivory to be worn as protective amuletic pendants. The giphogo mask type on the left, by contrast, was only performed in the Kasai region and is more geometricized and abstract in form. The helmet-shaped mask has a flat projecting lower edge, bulging forehead, distinctive nose and ears protruding at right angles to the face, and large ovoid eyes. The formidible power of this mask is indicated by its name which is taken from the Pende word for the executioner's knife, phogo, which the masked dancer might carry during performances. Associated with chiefly and ancestral authority, giphogo is called out in the event of an epidemic illness. Likenesses of the mask were carved above the doorway into a chief's house to exercise a positive influence over the health and fertility of the chieftaincy.
Exhibition HistoryThe Art of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Michael C. Carlos Museum, November 8, 1997 - January 4, 1998
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 3, September 26, 1998 - Spring 2003

ProvenanceEx coll. William Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia.

Status

Not on view

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