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Details

LOT 2339

African Wooden Ceremonial 'Forest Spirit' Face Mask

KWELE TRIBE, EARLY-MID 20TH CENTURY A.D.

19 5/8 in. (1.2 kg, 50 cm).

Carved wooden 'Four Faces Forest Spirit Mask' from Gabon, displaying flat surfaces with whitened heart-shaped faces each with a triangular nose, coffee-bean eyes and small or non-existent mouth; the two large carved horns represent the antelope. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From Gabon, West Africa.
From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Footnotes

The faces are usually painted in white kaolin earth, a pigment associated by the Kwele with light and clarity, the two essential factors in the fight against evil. The Kwele occupy a great forest region on the borders of Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

CONDITION

VETTING:

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AUCTIONS:

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LOT 2339

African Wooden Ceremonial 'Forest Spirit' Face Mask

Sold for (Inc. bp): £78

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