250511 - Extremely Rare African Mukanda Chokwe initiation mask - Angola.

Extremly Rare old African Mukanda helmet initiation mask from the Chokwe, Angola.

Height: 51 cm and 54 cm wide.

Collected in the mid tof the 20th century and with Certificate of Authenticity.

Rare, polychrome decorated mask, made of colored textile, stretched over a frame of vegetable fibers and rattan spokes. The ears are movable, with round plates with ornaments on the ears.

This type of mask was used in the initiation camps of the Young. They are not very widespread or well known, probably because they were often burned at the end of the initiation period. The chin is similarly shaped to that of the Chokwe-Chihongo masks.

The populous Chokwe people of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia are known as some of the most skilled wood carvers in Africa. They resisted colonization far longer than most peoples of the region, despite repeated incursions by the Portuguese and other Europeans.

The Chokwe use masks in many contexts. The Makishi (dead) dance is performed at the end of adult initiation rituals for boys, called Mukanda, primarily in Zambia. The Cikunza mask represents an ancestor and is worn by an older man to teach boys the knowledge they will need as men, particularly relating to hunting and sexual relationships. Unlike most African masked dancers, the Cikunza does not wear a raffia fiber suit, but instead paints his body in bright geometric patterns.  After the boys are circumcised, the newly minted adults remove the masks from their relatives and swear an oath to maintain the secrets of their identities.