Mask (Pwoom Itok)
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Object Label
This mask may have represented a wise older man at boys’ initiations. One of the principal Kuba dance masks is called pwoom itok. The chief identifying characteristic is the shape of the eyes, whose centers are cones surrounded by holes through which the wearer sees. Like many Kuba types of masks, pwoom itok is extensively polychromed, or multicolored. This example has a cane headdress covered with raffia cloth with painted designs and detached wooden ears. The top of the headdress was probably originally adorned with feathers, like those worn by high-ranking persons.
Caption
Kuba (Bushoong subgroup); or Ngeende. Mask (Pwoom Itok), late 19th century. Wood, shell, cloth, raffia, pigment, 15 3/8 x 11 1/4 x 11 3/4 in. (39.1 x 28.6 x 29.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.230. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.230_SL1.jpg)
Collection
Collection
Cultures
Title
Mask (Pwoom Itok)
Date
late 19th century
Geography
Place made: Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medium
Wood, shell, cloth, raffia, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
15 3/8 x 11 1/4 x 11 3/4 in. (39.1 x 28.6 x 29.8 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
22.230
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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