Male Face Mask (Chihongo)

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Mid–late 19th century

Chokwe
Angola or Democratic Republic of the Congo
Central Africa

The Chokwe use masquerades to engage with their ancestors, encouraging them to guide, protect, and educate the living. Chihongo is the male equivalent of the female mwana pwo mask. The male mask’s feathered headdress, red coloring, scarification patterns, stylized beard, and filed teeth evoke wisdom, leadership, and status. While both mask characters partake in performances during male initiation rites, chihongo appears at other events where a chief’s affirmation is desired.

Status: On View, Gallery 137
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Chokwe
Title: Male Face Mask (Chihongo)
Place: Angola (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1850–1900
Medium: Wood, raffia, burlap, turaco feathers, guinea fowl feathers, and pigment
Dimensions: 73.7 × 48.3 cm (29 × 19 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. James W. Alsdorf
Reference Number: 2003.174
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/181740/manifest.json

Manuel Jordán, ed., Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples (Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1998), n. pag., fig. 71.
Manuel Jordán, “Exhibition preview: Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe,” African Arts (Summer 1999), pp. 18-19, fig. 1.
Nancy Raabe, “Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe,” The Birmingham News, October 18th, 1998, pp. 1F, 10F (ill.).
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. no. 51, pp. 128-135 (ill.).

Birmingham Museum of Art, Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples, Nov. 1, 1998-Jan. 3, 1999; traveled to Baltimore Museum of Art, June 13-Sep. 5, 1999; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Oct. 24, 1999-Jan. 16, 2000.

Unknown private collection, Berlin, Germany, from c. 1912 [this and the following according to personal communication from J. Buxton dated June 13, 2003 and statement by Lisa Bradley dated Sept. 2003 documented in curatorial file; object report by Marie-Lousie Bastian, 1982, copy in curatorial file]; Dr. Wolfgang Nerlich (1928-2012), Munich, Germany, until early 1990s [personal communication with Pace Primitive dated May 22, 2013, documented in curatorial file]; sold to Pace Primitive, New York, N.Y., early 1990s [Pace Primitive inventory #53-0157]; sold to John and Barbara Buxton, Shango Galleries, Dallas, Tex., Oct. 1997 [Jordán 1998, no. 70; acquisition documentation in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 2003.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.