Body Mask (Kakuungo)

early 20th century

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

This body mask is probably a version of the giant awe-inspiring Kakuungo, who protected the youth in initiation camps from harmful forces. Kakuungo also held great power to heal in the event that complications developed after circumcision. Outside the initiation camps, these masks could intervene during healing rituals, particularly for impotence and sterility. Both protective and menacing, he was an ambivalent masking character. No other example of such a body mask is known; usually Kakuungo masks only consist of an oversize face with exaggerated cheeks and sometimes a prolonged, bulky chin.

Medium

Wood, pigment, and wood fiber

Dimensions

37 × 24 × 16 in. (93.98 × 60.96 × 40.64 cm)

Credit Line

Charles B. Benenson, B.A. 1933, Collection

Accession Number

2006.51.554

Geography

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Culture

Mbala or Suku

Period

20th century

Classification

Masks

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Philippe Guimiot, Brussels: unknown date-Nov. 19, 1981
Charles B. Benenson Collection, donated to Yale University Art Gallery in 2004
Bibliography

  • Frederick John Lamp, Amanda Maples, and Laura M. Smalligan, Accumulating Histories: African Art from the Charles B. Benenson Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2012), 304, ill.
  • "Acquisitions, July 1, 2005–June 30, 2006," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2006): 222.
  • Susan Vogel and Jerry L. Thompson, Closeup: Lessons in the Art of Seeing African Sculpture from an American Collection and the Horstmann Collection, exh. cat. (New York: Museum for African Art, 1990), 170-171, fig. 102.
  • "Guimiot advertisement," Arts d'Afrique Noire (March 1982): advertisment on the back cover.
  • "Guimiot advertisement," African Arts 15, no. 2 (1982): ill. inside back cover, ill.

Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

ceremonial objects, masks (costume)

Subject

spirits (beings)

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

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