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LOT 2377
African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
MOSSI TRIBE, EARLY-MID 20TH CENTURY A.D.
31 7/8 in. (779 grams, 81 cm).
Comprising an ellipsoid hollow face with parallel tusks; board of pierced geometric elements. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Private Hampshire, UK, collection of tribal art; acquired in the 1960s.
From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
Masks were regarded as the seat of the spirit, but they might also represent the totemic animal of the clan.
CONDITIONTimeLine 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:
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Indonesian Tau Tau Funerary Wooden Head
Toraja People, late 19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Funerary peg head with bald scalp, delicate facial features with grooves delineating the piercing eyes and shallow lips; below the neck a cylindrical protrusion to be slotted into the carving of its body, commemorating a deceased person. 780 grams, 35 cm
From South Central Sulewesi, Indonesia. Ex private Surrey, UK, ethnographic 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. -
African Decorated Clay Spindle Whorl Collection
Mali, circa 10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £27
Each discoid in plan and lentoid in section with central perforation and incised geometric ornament. 320 grams total, 50-54 mm
Ex private Oxford ethnographical collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
