Description

Among the Bembe, anthropo-zoomorphic plank masks are used in circumcision rites called butende. They are worn along with a costume of bark and banana leaves by the initiated boys who beg for food in the village while living in seclusion in the forest. The sculpture’s short projections above the forehead are identified as an owl’s tufts. The two pairs of eyes could refer to divination.

Provenance

Franyo and Gustave Schindler, New York, NY (by 1957–?); Jacques Boussard, Paris, France (before 1967–1990); Lucien Van de Velde, Antwerp, Belgium (1990–?); private collection, Belgium; (Sotheby's, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (2006); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2006–)