This exquisite vintage helmet mask is the embodiment of Mboma, the brother of Mwaash, the Kuba King, with its copper, metal, red, white and black beading, fibre,  cowrie shells, animal hair and geometric patterns typical of the Congo, this Mboma Mask represents the fierceness with which Mboma worked to take the power from the Kuba King Mukenge for the Kingdom and the King's Wife/Sister.

These masks are not only revered as a piece of history and work of art, they are used for dancing in ritualized ceremonies honoring and portraying the origins of the Kuba Kingdom. The legend of  the Kuba King, Mwaash/Woot the first Kuba King is that all Kuba descended from him.  Mwaash married his sister who represents both the wife and sister of the King and the object of his brother, Mboma whose desire was to own and grab the power from Mwaash.

The Mboma an essential part of the royal mask trilogy which includes Mboma or Bwoom the brother of the King and Ngadia Mwash, the Kuba Queen. The Mboma, a commoner, is fighting the King for the Kingdom and the Kuba Queen.

The Kuba Tribe is in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire.