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Source Description
Among the Bushoong, the central Kuba group, the mask known as <em>bwoom</em>—most typically identified as the head of a hunter-gatherer—forms a triad with a female mask and another male mask. All three are protagonists in the reenactment of the foundation of the Kuba kingdom. Outside the capital, however, bwoom appears in different non-royal contexts, such as the men’s initiation society.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
115157
label
Mask (Bwoom)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
115157
contentType
object
title
Mask (Bwoom)
description
Among the Bushoong, the central Kuba group, the mask known as <em>bwoom</em>—most typically identified as the head of a hunter-gatherer—forms a triad with a female mask and another male mask. All three are protagonists in the reenactment of the foundation of the Kuba kingdom. Outside the capital, however, bwoom appears in different non-royal contexts, such as the men’s initiation society.
date
mid- to late 1800s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Mask
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 43.3 x 31.2 x 28.3 cm (17 1/16 x 12 5/16 x 11 1/8 in.)
cul
Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kuba-style carver
accession
1935.304
Source extras
tec
Wood and paint
tombstone
Mask (Bwoom), mid- to late 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kuba-style carver. Wood and paint; overall: 43.3 x 31.2 x 28.3 cm (17 1/16 x 12 5/16 x 11 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, James Albert Ford Memorial Fund, 1935.304
collection
African Art
formerAccessionNumbers
2500.35
didYouKnow
Imagine this mask topped with eagle feathers; they would have been added only on special occasions when it was performed.
citations
citation
Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art; London: Scala Publishers Ltd, 2012. pg. 238-9.
citation
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), and James Johnson Sweeney. <em>African Negro Art</em>. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1935.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 52, no. 463
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 387
citation
Plass, Margaret. <em>The African Image: A New Selection of Tribal Art</em> :<em> the Toledo Museum of Art ... February 1 Through 22, 1959 : Introduction and Catalogue</em>. Toledo, Ohio: The Museum, 1959.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 30, no. 164
citation
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Ralph T. Coe. <em>The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World.</em> Kansas City, Mo: The Museum, 1962.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 11, 46, cat. no. 83
citation
Robbins, Warren M. <em>African Art in American Collections = L'art Africain Dans Les Collections Americaines.</em> New York : F. A. Praeger, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 211, pl. 300
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 303
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 303
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 412
citation
Connell, Timothy C., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. <em>World Art Transparencies.</em> Cincinnati: West Educational Pub., 1998.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 34; Reproduced no. 42
citation
Webb, Virginia-Lee, and Walker Evans. <em>Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935.</em> New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 24, fig. 15; Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 18
citation
Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page_number
Reproduced: cat. 35, p. 100 - 101
citation
Petridis, Constantine, "African Art Revisited", Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 43 no. 09, November 2003
page_number
Mentioned & reproduced: p. 4-5
citation
Robbins, Warren M.. <em>African sculpture.</em> Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 2005.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 211, pl. 300
citation
Buser, Thomas. <em>Experiencing Art Around Us.</em> Australia: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 433, fig. 17-22
citation
Sims, Lowery Stokes. <em>The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 55, no. 44
citation
Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In <em>Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display</em>. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 112; Reproduced: p. 113, fig. 5.7
creditline
James Albert Ford Memorial Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:01:41.423000
sourceId
115157
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood and paint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
84c3b0fa82a43a1e