Producer unknown to us
Breast shield
Africa, Tanzania, Newala Plateau, Makonde
Prior to 1906
Wood, carved
Karl Weule (director of the museum 1907–1926), aided by a Makonde intermediary, collected the group of masks on his expedition to East Africa in 1906
Transferred to the museum by Weule in 1908
MAf 16607
Breastplates were often worn together with face masks (midimu), which portrayed women during initiation ceremonies held by the Makonde community. They were worn exclusively by young men.
The breastplate is part of a collection of 55 masks and three breastplates that Karl Weule collected between 1906 and 1907 in the southeastern region of present-day Tanzania. This collection was acquired with the help of a Makonde intermediary, whose name is still unknown to the museum. According to Weule, a large part of the collection was secured in Mahuta. He himself states that the masks could only be obtained "by cunning, firmness and perseverance." Forty-eight of them were handed over to Berlin after his return, some were also given to Göttingen and Lübeck, and two were exchanged with the Basel Museum. Eight masks and three breastplates fell victim to the bomb attack on Leipzig in 1943.
Stefanie Bach