Mask (Bwoom)
Unknown Artist
mid- to late 1800s
Medium
Wood and paint
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.433,"width":0.312,"depth":0.283}}
Classification
Mask
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
James Albert Ford Memorial Fund
Accession Number
1935.304
About this artwork
Among the Bushoong, the central Kuba group, the mask known as bwoom—most typically identified as the head of a hunter-gatherer—forms a triad with a female mask and another male mask. All three are protagonists in the reenactment of the foundation of the Kuba kingdom. Outside the capital, however, bwoom appears in different non-royal contexts, such as the men’s initiation society.