Twin Mask

Impressive mask meant to honor gemality. Glass eyes and carved teeth that are seen in the open mouths are faceteteristic of the sorcerer masks between elos Bakongo. On the other hand, the nails of the head, like in the statues nkissi, appear signs of past contracts with the customers that have offered the expected result, otherwise it would appear a hole in place, sign of failure in the transaction. There are multiple traces of having received libations, among others of kaolin. All this abounds in the thesis that it is a sorcerer's mask used in rituals intended to honor gemality or, for example, to intercede for the healing of one of the twins. The faces of the mask carry ritual scarifications and a vertical stripe that descends from the top of the forehead to the eyebrow. Both faces carry a hyena ear-shaped auction on their foreheads. The hyena, besides being a symbol of gluttony, stupidity, hypocrisy, evil and cowardice, is also in Africa a symbol of human knowledge limited to itself, which seeks to emerge from doubt, duality and in this sense is also a symbol of gemality. The mask has a long complement of raffia. Very old patina.