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Mask (Nganga Diphomba)

Master of Kasadi

19th–early 20th century, inventoried 1937

Not on view

Collected by the Belgian Protestant missionary Léo Bittremieux in the village of Kasadi, this mask had been the instrument of an expert diagnostician (nganga diphomba) charged with bringing hidden matters to light. The lifesize face of a hyperalert seer is covered with a heavy layer of white kaolin. The head is crowned with a black cap, while a beard composed of buffalo hide and hair is affixed to the chin. On the basis of its collection history and close formal affinities to stylistically related works, it has been attributed to the Master of Kasadi atelier.

Mask (Nganga Diphomba), Master of Kasadi, Wood (Ricinodendron heudelotii Baill.), pigments, buffalo hide and hair, metal tacks, Kongo peoples; Yombe group — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Mask (Nganga Diphomba)

Artist: Master of Kasadi

Date: 19th–early 20th century, inventoried 1937

Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo, near Tshela, Kasadi village

Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Medium: Wood (Ricinodendron heudelotii Baill.), pigments, buffalo hide and hair, metal tacks

Dimensions: H. 11 3/8 in. (29 cm), W. 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm), D. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)

Classification: Wood-Sculpture

Credit Line: Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.