Ngady Mwaash, Kuba mask, Central Africa from Jeanne Walschots' collection

I'm very pleased to present this really unusual and rare mask from the Kuba tribe in Central Africa. It is what we call Ngady mwaash Mask, which mean the "female mask". What so unique about it is the inter-play between the beaded attachments on the wooden face and the colors of all the different geometric designs on the wooden mask. The mask belonged to a very well-known dealer-collector in Brussels in the 20s and the 30s, called Jeanne Walschots. Walschots sold a lot during her life time but she gave all of her collection to the Musée de Tervuren, and she exhibited her entire collection in 1934 and this mask was in that show in 1934 (you can see in an old photograph) and the show was entitled "1004 sculptures from the Jeanne Walschot's collection"; so imagine the breath and size of her collection.