Description

The ngady mwaash mask honors the role of women in Kuba life. It portrays a woman but, like other masks in Africa, is performed by a man. The most popular appearance of ngady mwaash is in a pantomime about the kingdom’s creation: ngady mwaash dances together with the mooshamb-wooy mask, representing the king (who is both her brother and her husband), and the bwoom mask [See 1982.1506].

Provenance

Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer München, Nov. 10, 1979, Ethnographic Art, 34, lot 282, as Ngaady Mwaash [illustrated on cover of auction catalogue; p. 83]; sold to Jacques Hautelet, Brussels, Belgium, and La Jolla, CA [personal communication from J. Hautelet, Oct. 2013, documented in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 1982.

Face Mask (Ngady Mwaash)

Kuba

Late 19th-mid 20th century

Accession Number

106184

Medium

Wood, pigment, glass beads, cowrie shells, fabric, and thread

Dimensions

31.8 × 20.6 × 20.5 cm (12 1/2 × 8 1/8 × 10 in.)

Classification

masks

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the American Hospital Supply Corp., the Evanston Associates of the Woman's Board in honor of Wilbur Tuggle, Deborah Stokes and Jeffrey Hammer, William E. Hartmann, Charles A. Meyer, D. Daniel Michel, and Claire B. Zeisler; African and Amerindian Art Purchase Fund

Related Artworks

Helmet Mask (Bwoom)

Kuba

Helmet Mask (Mukenga)

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Horn

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Belt (Yeemy Mambolmashet)

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