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LOT 2371
African Wooden Ceremonial Figure
MADAGASCAN TRIBE, 20TH CENTURY A.D.
11 in. (157 grams, 28 cm).
A painted female figure in knee-length robe with a white glass bead necklace, mounted on a later black wooden display base. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom South Madagascar.
From an old Shrewsbury, UK, ethnographic collection.
From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
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AUCTIONS:
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African Wooden Ancestor Figure
Bembe Tribe, 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
A hand-carved female figure standing on a base with a columnar body, displaying scarification to the front and side of the face. 960 grams, 36.3 cm
From Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa. From an old Bristol, UK, ethnographical collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman. -
African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
Baule Tribe, early-mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
A carved mask with crested horns and decorated in tones of white, red and blue. 620 grams, 39.4 cm
From Ivory Coast, West Africa. From an old Derby, UK, collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
The Baule people is one of the largest ethnic groups in the Côte d'Ivoire. Wooden masks allow a closer contact with the supernatural world and correspond to several types of dances: the gba gba, the bonu amuen, the mblo and the goli. They never represent the ancestors and are always worn by men. -
African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
Fang Tribe, early-mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
A large carved mask with a white heart-shaped face and a decoration to the forehead. 764 grams, 43 cm
From Cameroon, Central Africa. From the collection of the late Professor R M Hicks, OBE. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
The Fang used masks in their secret societies. Fang masks, such as those worn by itinerant troubadours and for hunting and punishing sorcerers, are painted white with facial features outlined in black. Typical are large, elongated masks and featuring a face that was usually heart-shaped with a long, fine nose. Apparently, it has been linked with the dead and ancestors, since white is their color. The ngontang dance society also used white masks, sometimes in the form of a four-sided helmet-mask with bulging forehead and eyebrows in heart-shaped arcs.
