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Chokwe Chihongo Mask
Tshokwe Masque - Chihongo
Collection - Afri-Karner Museum
Origin: Chokwe Peoples - Angola
Provenance:
Ex collection Manuel Jordan PhD - USA
Ex collection Greg Houser - USA
This powerful - yet elegant
Chihongo mask represents an ancestral chief and displays the fine detailed work of a
Chokwe master carver.
Chihongo is a friendly male spirit that entertains crowds at public performances.
A very similar Chihongo
mask with feather coiffure was published in CHOKWE - Plate 71.
Chihongo displays vitality, power and wealth, aspects depicted by a disc styled beard and an elaborate crown.
Above left, chief Chauto as
photographed in 1903 by Fonseca Cardoso. Above right, a Chihongo costume
published in: Os Akixi (Mascarados)
do Nordeste de Angola.
Chihongo appears at special royal events and ceremonies, such as initiations for
the sons of chiefs, or the investiture of a new chief.
Jagged teeth accentuate the mask while scarification is
detailed with incised and high relief carving.
The field image above was
taken on the west bank of the Zambezi near Chavuma Zambia. The person's filed
teeth reflect those of a Chihongo mask, as does the symbolic scarification on the
man's forehead called
chingelyengelye.
Tribally the symbol denotes 'Chokwe' identity and the man may very well have
been a visiting Angolan Chokwe chief.
The extraordinary Chihongo mask was worn with a full body costume (below).
Makishi Lya Zambia - Pg 61 - Charles Meur
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FACES -
Art
of
Angola
and
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