EO.0.0.23470
Antropo-zoömorf masker / Masque anthropo-zoomorphe / Anthropo-zoomorphic mask.
Luulu, Katanga, RD Congo. [Luba]. 2nd quarter of the 19th century. Wood (Ricinodendron rautanenii). Purchase from the widow of O. Michaux. 1919. EO.0.0.23470.
Collection context
In March 1896, this Luba mask was taken from the village of Luulu in the DR Congo in the context of the retaliations for the ‘Tetela rebellion’ within the Public Force. Because of this rebellion, commander Oscar Michaux had obtained full authority to lead military operations against the mutineers. It was during the advance of the armed troops that the village of Luulu was violently invaded and occupied. The chief had refused the troops to settle in his village. While the inhabitants were forced to flee into the forest, their food, and many possessions, including this mask, were plundered from the village.
The Michaux collection contains 715 objects that were sold by his widow to the museum in 1919. This object is the only mask in the collection, which consists of cups, horns, boxes, figurines, sceptres, combs, ivory objects, numerous woven raffia textiles, weapons, musical instruments and chairs that the soldier acquired during his nearly seven-year stay in Congo.
The objects from the Michaux collection appear to have been either negotiated or looted, depending on the circumstances. Since Michaux did not collect on behalf of the State, questions can be raised as to why he could acquire such an extensive collection. Hence, he probably extended his collection because of his desire for ‘military souvenirs’ and his interest in ‘beautiful exotic objects’.
Notebook of an expedition
Albert Lapière, an officer accompanying Michaux at the time, wrote a diary of which the museum preserves a copy. Thanks to this document, there is an account of the plundering of the Luba mask in Luulu. Lapière’s accounts of the events in Luulu were reproduced in a somewhat embellished form by Michaux in his book Carnet de Campagne (1913). Lapière’s report was studied by Dr. R. Ceyssens, who published an extensive study on Michaux’s collection at the RMCA in 2011.
Passage describing the Luba mask.