Face Mask

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Culture Pende

Title Face Mask (Gitenga)

Date 20th century

Medium Wood, pigment, and and fiber

Dimensions Object (includes fiber): 16 7/8 × 19 1/2 × 8 in. (42.9 × 49.5 × 20.3 cm)
Overall (includes mount): 19 9/16 × 19 1/2 × 8 in. (49.7 × 49.5 × 20.3 cm)

Credit Line Gift of John and Rita Grunwald in Honor of Diane Pelrine, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2017.105

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About this Work

Gitenga is described as the grandfather or chief of a category of masks said to represent ancestors. Like all masks in this category, it appeared at various types of events, including youth initiations into adulthood and the investiture and death of a chief. The mask is said to refer to the solar disk as a symbol of life and regeneration. Most examples are cloth; wood disks such as this are rare.

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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Face Mask | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2017.105