Loading, please wait...

Use mousewheel to zoom in and out, click to enlarge

Details

LOT 2349

African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask

BAMBARA TRIBE, 20TH CENTURY A.D.

11 3/4 in. (234 grams, 30 cm).

A small wooden carved mask with curved horns, decorated with thin metal sheets and fabric tufts. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From Mali, West Africa.
From the collection of the late Professor R M Hicks, OBE.
From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

CONDITION

VETTING:

TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process


AUCTIONS:

TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.

LOT 2349

African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask

Sold for (Inc. bp): £85

Print page

RELATED LOTS

  • African Ashanti Bronze Snake Gold Weight
    African Ashanti Bronze Snake Gold Weight
    Akan Tribe, 19th-20th century A.D.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £26

    D-shaped in section with impressed segmentation to the back, raised head. 144 grams, 25 cm



    From an old Oxford, UK, collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

    Lot Details

  • African Brass Kano Bracelet Pair
    African Brass Kano Bracelet Pair
    Okombo Tribe, late 19th-early 20th century A.D.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £7

    Penannular in form with plain white brass body and cone-shaped finials. 92 grams total, 63 mm each



    From Nigeria, West Africa. From an old Derby, UK, specialist collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

    The bracelet is the most common money form in Africa. It served the important monetary functions of portability and wealth display. Variants of this form were accepted virtually everywhere in Africa.

    Lot Details

  • West African Squatting Stone Figure Pair
    West African Squatting Stone Figure Pair
    Kissi Tribe, early 20th century A.D.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £7

    Carved stone statues (twins) from Sierra Leone; two steatite anthropomorphic carvings, one male and one female, both with hands wrapped around the knees. 2.55 kg total, 20-23.5 cm



    From Sierra Lione, West Africa. From an old Norwich, UK, collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

    The Kissi as early as the 15th century, revered soapstone (steatite) anthropomorphic carvings, which are found in fields and rivers in the area centered around Sewa and Mano rivers. The Kissi people call them Pomdo (Pombo), which mean "the deceased". Some of their carvings are extremely old. These statues were the abodes of the spirits of their ancestors. In order to find out which ancestor a statue represented; a man’s dreams were analyzed with the help of the diviner. At festivities the statue was wrapped in cotton upon which sacrificial blood had been poured. The owner (the guardian of the statue) placed it on the family altar; hence it was thought to be the family’s protector against sickness. It was also consulted before a new undertaking was planned. The statues were believed to have supernatural power and were used in rice cultivation. Remarkably, the descendants of the Kissi people still keep up the tradition of stone carving.

    Lot Details

Stay up-to-date with the latest from TimeLine Auctions by joining our mailing list