A rare Yela or Mbole mask made from a particularly old and worn Mongo anklet casting mould.
Beautiful is the synthesis with which the Yela artist has managed to realise the male portrait (probably of an ancestor or dignitary) by masterfully resolving the shapes of beard and hair constrained within the circle. The nose has also been skilfully sculpted by removing material from the volumes of the ridge of the mould corresponding to the top and sharp part of the anklet.
Finally, the geometric cheek scarifications, representative of the ancestor represented, are beautiful and characterising.
The sculptor did not drill any holes to allow it to be worn, so this mask is to be considered a sort of reliquary or photograph of a very specific personage and was secretly kept and displayed on rare occasions.
Traces of kaolin underneath the red pigment.