Mixed lot (5 pieces), southern Ethiopia, tribe: Surma: two lip plates, one round, the other semicircular, two round ear plugs and a ring. All made of ivory.
Mixed lot (5 pieces), southern Ethiopia, tribe: Surma: two lip plates, one round, the other semicircular, two round ear plugs and a ring. All made of ivory.
1: Lip plates such as these made of ivory, whether round (with a hole in the middle) or semicircular, were previously worn by Surma women in their stretched lower lip. On the Omo River in southern Ethiopia.
Dimensions: 6.5 cm (diameter of the round disc) x 1.5 cm; 8.7 cm x 5 cm x 2 cm (semicircular disc).
2: A pair of round ear plugs made of ivory (2 pieces) with grooves on the outside to be hung in the stretched earlobes of Surma women. Diameter: 4.4 cm and 4.2 cm.
3: A finger ring carved from ivory. All five objects in this mixed lot are old and have been used. The ivory has visible old crackling and has darkened to a speckled honey coloured shade. Objects of this nature were rare in southern Ethiopia even in the time of Emperor Haile Selassie. Nowadays they are made of clay or wood.
Between c. 1900 and the first third of the 20th century. (ME) ASA
Provenance: Austrian private collection.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
06.04.2017 - 15:00
- Starting bid:
-
EUR 1,500.-
Mixed lot (5 pieces), southern Ethiopia, tribe: Surma: two lip plates, one round, the other semicircular, two round ear plugs and a ring. All made of ivory.
1: Lip plates such as these made of ivory, whether round (with a hole in the middle) or semicircular, were previously worn by Surma women in their stretched lower lip. On the Omo River in southern Ethiopia.
Dimensions: 6.5 cm (diameter of the round disc) x 1.5 cm; 8.7 cm x 5 cm x 2 cm (semicircular disc).
2: A pair of round ear plugs made of ivory (2 pieces) with grooves on the outside to be hung in the stretched earlobes of Surma women. Diameter: 4.4 cm and 4.2 cm.
3: A finger ring carved from ivory. All five objects in this mixed lot are old and have been used. The ivory has visible old crackling and has darkened to a speckled honey coloured shade. Objects of this nature were rare in southern Ethiopia even in the time of Emperor Haile Selassie. Nowadays they are made of clay or wood.
Between c. 1900 and the first third of the 20th century. (ME) ASA
Provenance: Austrian private collection.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
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| Auction: | Tribal Art |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction |
| Date: | 06.04.2017 - 15:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 01.04. - 06.04.2017 |