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LOT 2384
African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
LEGA WAREGA TRIBE, EARLY 20TH CENTURY A.D.
5 3/4 in. (57 grams, 14.7 cm).
Teardrop-shaped in plan with two scooped facets, slit eyes; pierced around the edge for attachment. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa.
From the Estate of Dr J Bynon; acquired 22 February 1914.
From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
Most of Lega masks are sculptures of a human face that are rarely worn over the face and never for purposes of true transformation. The Lega masks can be assigned different uses and meanings depending on the context of the performance. In Bwami ceremonies, masks are attached to different parts of the body, fixed to hat, piled in stacks, hung on fences, held in the hand, dragged on the ground, and occasionally worn on the forehead with the beard draping over the face of the wearer or arranged on a miniature palisade. Participants in most rites display their masks as a group in conjunction with particular dance movements and aphorisms, which vary depending on the context in which they are used. Lega masks differ from those used in many other African masquerades in that while women do not own them, both men and women handle and present them in very similar performances. Masks are among the initiation objects displayed on the grave before being passed to new owners. They are usually passed from an uncle to a nephew.
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AUCTIONS:
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African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
Senufo Tribe, early-mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Carved with a narrow face, narrow protruding sharp nose, slit eyes with some decoration, a closed mouth with protruding lips, bead and cowrie shell decoration to one ear and a bird's neck and head sculpture to the top of the mask. 1.12 kg, 36.5 cm
From Burkina Faso, West Africa. From a Glasgow ethnographical collection; formed 1940s-1950s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman. -
Tuareg Manilla Bronze Slave Bracelet Group
Okombo Tribe, late 19th-early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £8
Each penannular in form with opposed conical finials, one with radial twist to the shank. 53 grams total, 47-55 mm
From Nigeria, West Africa. From an old Derby, UK, specialist collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman. -
African Wooden Cermonial Face Mask
We Tribe, early-mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13
Carved with tubular eyes, a wide mouth with metal plate teeth, a broad nose and raffia hair around the whole mask. 1.15 kg, face long: 28.5 cm
From Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, West Africa. From an old Newbury, UK, ethnographic collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
Masks are owned by families and used by individual lineage members in contexts of social control, boy’s circumcision camps, and entertainment. Most We masks were created to frighten with the gaping jaws and tubular eyes. Modern ethnology puts the Wobe and Guere together under the name We, despite the fact that the people themselves use the old names.
