Ɵ Idimu Mask, Lega People, Democratic Republic... - Lot 63 - Giquello

Lot 63
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Estimation :
100000 - 150000 EUR
Ɵ Idimu Mask, Lega People, Democratic Republic... - Lot 63 - Giquello
Ɵ Idimu Mask, Lega People, Democratic Republic of the Congo Wood with black patina, kaolin H. 26 cm. Idimu Mask, Lega People, Democratic Republic of the Congo H. 101/4 in Provenance: - Hélène et Philippe Leloup, Paris - Private collection Publication: - Daniel Biebuyck, La Sculpture des Lega, Paris, Galerie Hélène et Philippe Leloup, 1994, no. 63. Exhibition: - La Sculpture des Lega: Galerie Hélène et Philippe Leloup, Paris, 14 June - 30 July 1994. The Lega, a Bantu people from the North, settled on the eastern bank of the Lwalaba River in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of the 16th century. At the heart of the Lega world, the Bwami society presents itself as a mixed initiatory association, hierarchically very structured, which penetrates and animates all the activities of the community. Its aims are humanistic, its rites transmit knowledge, it is the true cohesion of the Lega society. The notion of the existence of a Lega style is difficult to grasp, as this art appears to be formally free. However, any figurine or mask commissioned and donated by an initiate is undoubtedly Lega and takes the aesthetic and symbolic place it deserves within the various objects used during the initiation rites of the Bwami. Idimu is the largest of the masks that Lega sculptors have ever designed. It is part of the set of sacred objects belonging to the highest grade of Bwami initiation. Carefully preserved by an appropriate guardian, it only came out during the ceremonies of this rank. It could be worn on the forehead or on the back of the head and its dance was allegorical. Any initiatory object, associated with a proverb or a chant, distilled a teaching. Sometimes it was simply hung on a palisade or palace, in the midst of other smaller masks of which he was both ancestor and protector. This great Idimu has a number of characteristics that make it truly unique within its corpus. Its s
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