hemba Wood, pigments, fiber, raffia height 16in (40.5cm) (not including fiber collar) Provenance Gaston de Havenon Gallery, New York Robert and Nancy Nooter Collection, Washington, D.C. Exhibited Washington, D.C., National Museum of African Art – Smithsonian Institution, 1987 – 2004 Cf. African Masks - The Barbier-Muller Collection, Iris Hahner, et. al (eds), Prestel, 2007, fig. 203 "This type of mask, used in boys' initiations and known by the name of hemba, is disseminated throughout the Suku area. Based on characteristic stylistic details, Arthur Bourgeois was able to distinguish four regional styles. The present mask [as in the mask presented here] comes from the northern Suku, and shows traits of two regional styles. The design of the coiffure with straight hairline and angles above the ears pointed toward the eyes, and the open, tooth-studded mouth, are features of Regional Style A, which Bourgeois locates between the Lukula and Inzia rivers. The wide eye slits and marked eyebrow line, on the other hand, point to Regional Style B, which has been observed somewhat farther south, between Kwenge and Bakali." (Ibid.)