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THB20th C. Madagascar Mahafaly Aloalo w/ Birds
Lot 188c
About Seller
Artemis Gallery
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
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Estimate:
$2,000 - $4,000
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About Auction
Live
By Artemis Gallery
Feb 6, 2019
Set Reminder
2019-02-06 10:00:00
2019-02-06 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : Ancient | Ethnographic | Fine Art
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-fine-art-3848
Featuring classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
Featuring classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
View Full Catalog (389)
- Lot Description
Madagascar, Southwestern region, Mahafaly peoples, ca. early to mid 20th century CE. A finely carved, large-scale wooden Aloalo - a sculpture that would have surmounted a tomb to honor an elite deceased member of royal as well as chiefly lineage. This sculpture depicts a standing nude figure of ambiguous gender holding one hand over her/his privates, with a finely rendered visage featuring bold facial features and a combed coiffure, above which rises a magnificent headdress featuring stylized abstract motifs topped by a finial depicting a pair of lovebirds facing one another an intimately touching their beaks together. This piece would have simultaneously honored the deceased and addressed the more abstract understanding of the relationship between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Aloalo derives from alo, which means messenger or intermediary. Hence, though not a literal portrait of the deceased, instead this aloalo represents a link to the ancestral realm. Size: 84.5" H (214.6 cm)
Notice that the decorative elements of the Aloalo include outward-facing crescents. These are generally understood as a reference to the phases of the moon. This allusion to the lunar cycle reflects the traditional themes of regeneration and continuity in aloalo sculpture. According to the curatorial team at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The Mahafaly have adopted the term aloalo to refer strictly to the works that are used at royal burial sites. Aloalo is derived from alo, which implies a sense of an intermediary or messenger; the term therefore refers primarily to the work's function and not necessarily its form. Alo also relates to the creation of linkages and, in the context of funerary sculpture, may refer to the visual interlocking of abstract forms integrated into a harmonious design as well the work's role as an intermediary between the worlds of the living and dead." (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/317882)
Provenance: ex-private Pearson collection, Denver, Colorado, 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.
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#143257Expected surface wear and age cracks. Otherwise intact, and there is also some remaining white and black pigment as shown.Condition
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