Bamum, Kom or Babanki, Cameroon Grassfields: a female helmet mask, called ‘ngoin’.
A beautiful, old helmet or pull-on mask, called a ‘ngoin mask’. Carved from hard, heavy wood and dyed black and brown. The eyes and both rows of teeth are accentuated in white. The ‘ngoin’ mask type features hairstyles of aristocratic women and is worn on the head of male dancers, who can see through a net under the mask’s edge.
In the ‘Juju dance groups’ of the Cameroon Grassfields (northwestern Cameroon) the ‘ngoin masks’ accompany the performances of the so-called ‘kam masks’ or ‘akam masks’ (with beard and real hair) representing a male cult leader and ‘king’. Hence the ‘ngoin masks’ are regarded as the ‘first lady of the kam’. A visibly old, perfectly crafted piece, with age-related colour scuffing and good, old patina. The hanging on the pierced ears, made of black laces and pierced cowrie shells, is a secondary feature that was attached at a later date. No damage.
Height: 31 cm; width: c. 21 cm. Between c. 1900 and the first third of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance: Austrian private collection.
Lit.: ‘Kamerun. Kunst der Könige’ by Lorenz Homberger, ill. p. 97, 105, 112/113, 218.
Expert: Prof. Erwin Melchardt
Prof. Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
06.04.2017 - 15:00
- Vyvolávací cena:
-
EUR 1.000,-
Bamum, Kom or Babanki, Cameroon Grassfields: a female helmet mask, called ‘ngoin’.
A beautiful, old helmet or pull-on mask, called a ‘ngoin mask’. Carved from hard, heavy wood and dyed black and brown. The eyes and both rows of teeth are accentuated in white. The ‘ngoin’ mask type features hairstyles of aristocratic women and is worn on the head of male dancers, who can see through a net under the mask’s edge.
In the ‘Juju dance groups’ of the Cameroon Grassfields (northwestern Cameroon) the ‘ngoin masks’ accompany the performances of the so-called ‘kam masks’ or ‘akam masks’ (with beard and real hair) representing a male cult leader and ‘king’. Hence the ‘ngoin masks’ are regarded as the ‘first lady of the kam’. A visibly old, perfectly crafted piece, with age-related colour scuffing and good, old patina. The hanging on the pierced ears, made of black laces and pierced cowrie shells, is a secondary feature that was attached at a later date. No damage.
Height: 31 cm; width: c. 21 cm. Between c. 1900 and the first third of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance: Austrian private collection.
Lit.: ‘Kamerun. Kunst der Könige’ by Lorenz Homberger, ill. p. 97, 105, 112/113, 218.
Expert: Prof. Erwin Melchardt
Prof. Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
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Horká linka kupujících
Po-Pá: 10.00 - 17.00
kundendienst@dorotheum.at +43 1 515 60 200 |
| Aukce: | Mimoevropské a domorodé umění |
| Typ aukce: | Salónní aukce |
| Datum: | 06.04.2017 - 15:00 |
| Místo konání aukce: | Wien | Palais Dorotheum |
| Prohlídka: | 01.04. - 06.04.2017 |