The history of the object we will examine here is that of one of the most emblematic works of Luba art in existence: the famous horned helmet 126 mask in the Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale at Tervuren, Belgium (figs. 1–2). The mask was collected by a colonial officer named O. Michaux during his military occupation of the village of Luulu in March of 1896 (Ceyssens, 2011: 44–46).1 The mask came into the museum’s collection in 1919 and thus found its way into the world of exhibitions (fig. 6), publications, and even of stamps (fig. 5) and souvenir items such as key chains. The sculptural integrity of the mask and its much publicized image underwent certain changes in the course of the twentieth century. Shortly after its arrival at Tervuren, a member of the museum’s staff saw fit to embellish it by hanging a grass skirt from the Bangala region around its neck, deeming this would enhance the museum’s presentation of the piece. This addition remained on it until the beginning of the 1960s. During the same period, the treatment of another element that is an integral part of the mask, a bird carved onto the back of its head, makes quite a story. The bird was damaged by the time the object arrived at the museum. It was restored several times and was By Julien Volper present at the same time the Bangala “skirt” was added in the 1920s (fig. 4). It later disappeared2 and did not resurface and find its place back on the piece until 2005, when the prestigious museum underwent extensive renovations. While we will see that the addition and then later the removal of the “Bangala skirt” had little effect on research on the mask, the same is not true of the bird. This element plays a central role in the enigmas that are associated with the analysis of the object, of which we will now examine certain aspects. Horns or Braids? What is striking when one sees the Tervuren mask is the harmony between the peaceful, dreamy human face and the protuberances that frame it so dynamically. We use the neutral term “protuberances” here because there are diverging opinions about how they should be interpreted. Some authors see them as representing some kind of coiffure, while others consider them to be representations of animal horns. What are the arguments? The partisans of the coiffure interpretation maintain that the protuberances are nothing more than an assemblage of hair braids whose appearance resembles FIG. 1: Helmet mask. Luba, DR Congo. Wood (Ricinodendron rautanenii). H: 38 cm. Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale, Tervuren, EO.0.0.23470. Collected by O. Michaux in March of 1896 in Luulu village, Kabongo region. © Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale. FACING PAGE FIG. 2 (upper right): Frontal view of fig. 1. © Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale. FIG. 3 (bottom center): Color image of fig. 1. This is the image most frequently seen in recent publications. Photo: R. Asselberghs, © Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale. FIG. 4 (lower right): Side view of fig. 1 showing the bird and the added fiber skirt. © Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale. OBJECT history What a Mask Can Say ICONOGRAPHIC REFLECTIONS ON A MASTERPIECE IN THE MRAC
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