Documented paths

Kuba masks: Bwoom, Mwaash a-Mbooy and variations

Bwoom, Mwaash a-Mbooy and Mukenge appear in separate catalogue records. This route sets them alongside other masks attributed to the Kuba, allowing their names and photographs to be compared. Original spellings remain in the records, including variants that should not be merged without documentary review.

In MYL-12, Arrimadas pays attention to cowries, beads, raffia and painted decoration. His account directs attention to the relationship between carving and accessories as well as the face. The photographs allow that description to be read as a collection document, without transferring another museum object’s history to these works.

Royal Bwoom mask · MYL-12 — Royal Bwoom maskMYL-12

Documented context

The Cleveland Museum of Art describes Bwoom among the Bushoong as part of a mask triad associated with accounts of the Kuba kingdom’s foundation. It also records non-royal uses outside the capital. Context varies; a shared designation does not guarantee a single function.

Cleveland Museum of Art · Mask (Bwoom)

Reading the catalogue

Original historical document in Spanish

Profusamente decorada con cauris, abalorios, abundante barba de rafia y artística policromía a base de dibujos geométricos.

Jesús Arrimadas Saavedra · original catalogue · MYL-12

This quotation retains the archive’s wording. Editorial context and comparative sources do not certify the objects’ attribution, age or provenance.