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LOT 2357
African Wooden Comb Fertility Figure
ASANTE TRIBE, 20TH CENTURY A.D.
16 3/8 in. (483 grams, 41.7 cm).
Carved in the round with large discoid panel for the head with high-relief facial features; small body with arms spread, resting on a rectangular comb with six tines. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom Southern Ghana, West Africa.
From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
Fertility and children are the most frequent themes in the wooden sculptures of the Asante. The most numerous works are akua’ba fertility figures. The are dolls with disk-shaped heads embodying their concept of beauty and carried by women who want to become pregnant and to deliver a beautiful child.
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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African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
Bambara Tribe, early-mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Rectangular shaped mask with a wide mouth, a broad nose, wearing a helmet with two crescent-shaped horns and coated with possibly sacrificial material. 1.77 kg, 39 cm
From Mali, West Africa. From a Glasgow ethnographical collection; formed 1940s-1950s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman. -
African Brass Kano Bracelet
Okombo Tribe, late 19th-early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Comprising a plain round white brass penannular body with clubbed ends. 92 grams, 75 mm
From Nigeria, West Africa. From an old Derby, UK, specialist collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
This is a Kano Bracelet from northern Nigeria. 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. -
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.
