Mumuye, Nigeria: a buffalo mask for dances in honour of the ancestral spirits.
An expressive buffalo mask of the Mumuye people, from the northeast of Nigeria, south of the Benoue river. It is carved from lightweight, light-coloured wood and coloured red (with powdered redwood), white (kaolin) and black (soot). At the back it has two horns and a large, open mouth on the front. This type of helmet or head crest mask is worn horizontally on the top of the head. The mask dancers perform in a full body costume made from light-coloured, long plant fibres during the annual, two-day ceremonies and dances in honour of the dead and ancestral spirits.
It is an old piece with small, age-related breakages on the lower edge, as well as a good usage patina, especially on the inside where the mask sits on the head of the dancer. Height: 19 cm; length: 50 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Colin Sayers, Cape Town, South Africa; currently: German private collection.
Lit.:
'Fusions. Masquerades and thought style east of the Niger-Benue confluence, West Africa' by Richard Fardon, ill. p. 4, 96, 98 and p. 178, ill. 9a.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
09.06.2016 - 17:00
- Realized price: **
-
EUR 1,500.-
- Starting bid:
-
EUR 1,200.-
Mumuye, Nigeria: a buffalo mask for dances in honour of the ancestral spirits.
An expressive buffalo mask of the Mumuye people, from the northeast of Nigeria, south of the Benoue river. It is carved from lightweight, light-coloured wood and coloured red (with powdered redwood), white (kaolin) and black (soot). At the back it has two horns and a large, open mouth on the front. This type of helmet or head crest mask is worn horizontally on the top of the head. The mask dancers perform in a full body costume made from light-coloured, long plant fibres during the annual, two-day ceremonies and dances in honour of the dead and ancestral spirits.
It is an old piece with small, age-related breakages on the lower edge, as well as a good usage patina, especially on the inside where the mask sits on the head of the dancer. Height: 19 cm; length: 50 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Colin Sayers, Cape Town, South Africa; currently: German private collection.
Lit.:
'Fusions. Masquerades and thought style east of the Niger-Benue confluence, West Africa' by Richard Fardon, ill. p. 4, 96, 98 and p. 178, ill. 9a.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
|
Buyers hotline
Mon.-Fri.: 10.00am - 5.00pm
kundendienst@dorotheum.at +43 1 515 60 200 |
| Auction: | Tribal Art - Africa |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction |
| Date: | 09.06.2016 - 17:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 04.06. - 09.06.2016 |
** Purchase price incl. buyer's premium and VAT
It is not possible to turn in online buying orders anymore. The auction is in preparation or has been executed already.