1940s African Mende Wood Bundu Helmet Mask

Lot 57

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686 S Taylor Ave, Ste 106
Louisville, CO 80027
United States

Selling antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art online since 1993, Artemis Gallery specializes in Classical Antiquities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern), Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanographic art. Our extensive inventory includes pottery, stone, metal, wood, glass and textil...Read more

Bid Increments

Price	Bid Increment
$0	$25
$300	$50
$1,000	$100
$2,000	$250
$5,000	$500
$10,000	$1,000
$20,000	$2,500
$50,000	$5,000
$100,000	$10,000
$200,000	$20,000

About Auction

Northwest Coast, Tribal, & Pre-Columbian Art by Artemis Gallery

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Northwest Coast, Tribal, & Pre-Columbian Art

By Artemis Gallery

May 24, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-05-24 10:00:00 2018-05-24 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Northwest Coast, Tribal, & Pre-Columbian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/northwest-coast-tribal-pre-columbian-art-3238 Featuring Pacific Northwest Coast Native American Art from respected collector / dealer, Joseph Alphabet. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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Lot Description

West Africa, Liberia or Sierra Leone, Mende people, ca. 1940s CE. A large wood mask characterized by thin slit eyes, a bulging forehead, a delicate nose, cupped ears, and lovely multi-lobed coiffure with a pair of bulb-shaped knots as well as a sculpted band showing cowrie shells and conical horns. Her cheeks and brow display a series of carved segmented areas indicative of ritual scarification. The back of her neck presents a repeating series of carved X-shaped designs, all above a layered neck and rimmed collar. The interior of the mask is carved out for ceremonial wear, and several perforations around the base allow for the suspension of a large textile costume. Size: 9" W x 16" H (22.9 cm x 40.6 cm).

This type of mask is used by a female society within the Mende culture, on important occasions: handing down justice, attending funeral ceremonies, and going through initiation rites. During those initiation rites, the women who are already initiated, the Sande, wear these masks when they greet the newly initiated as they return from three months' seclusion in the forest. In use, the masks have long costumes attached to cover the entirety of the body so that the identities of the women are not known. Often these masks combine male elements with female elements to show that the women have attained the same amount of knowledge as men.

For a similar example, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1977.461: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310439

A similar example hammered for $21,250 at Sotheby's, New York African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art Auction (Sale number N08994, May 16, 2013, lot 91): http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/africanoceanic-n08994/lot.91.html

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Fernandez Leventhal Gallery, New York, New York, USA; ex-Dave DeRoche collection, Piedmont, California, USA

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

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#133067

Condition

Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, with small nicks to neck line, coiffure, ears, and face. Very nice detailing. Light earthen deposits and great pigmentation remains throughout.
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