Lula-Nkanu mask, Congo.

Lula-Nkanu Mask - Congo.
Measurements: 55 cm.
Mask of white face, elongated oval with wide forehead divided practically in two by the entrance in tip of the outline of hair and the tip of the enormous triangular and schematic nose; globular eyes cut by its half by a thin and elongated groove, that has the high part flanged in blue and the low part in red and that it crosses
The eyes are placed inside sockets that frame them and have, in their lower part, three vertical grooves per eye (as in the Hemba masks of the northern Suku); it has a kind of rectangular protruding mouth with vertical grooves painted in blue throughout its width; it has no chin; schematic ears in the shape of a C. It is topped by a spherical headpiece of black painted cloth with red cross-striped patterns. The wide necklace of vegetable fibers frames the face from the crown of the head to below the mouth. The lower part of the face from the eyes to the mouth is bordered by a red line. Lula artists use white, blue and red pigments to accentuate the shapes and surfaces of their masks.