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THBEarly 20th C. Gabon Punu Polychrome Wood Mask
Lot 221
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:
$1,200 - $1,800
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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
Live
By Artemis Gallery
Oct 14, 2021
Set Reminder
2021-10-14 10:00:00
2021-10-14 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : CLEARANCE | Ancient & Ethnographic Art
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/clearance-ancient-ethnographic-art-7705
Kick off fall with our clearance sale featuring discounted pricing and many new items! Asian art, Classical antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy, and the Near East...plus Pre-Columbian, Tribal, Russian Icons & Enamelware, Spanish Colonial, Fine Art, Fossils, more! Starting prices have been reduced Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
Kick off fall with our clearance sale featuring discounted pricing and many new items! Asian art, Classical antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy, and the Near East...plus Pre-Columbian, Tribal, Russian Icons & Enamelware, Spanish Colonial, Fine Art, Fossils, more! Starting prices have been reduced Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
View Full Catalog (378)
- Lot Description
**Originally Listed At $800**
Central Africa, Gabon, Upper Ngoume River area, Punu peoples, ca. early 20th century CE. A lovely hand-carved and painted wooden mask carved out along the verso. The beautiful visage is composed of bulging ovoid eyes with carved horizontal slits along the midlines, slender, high-arching brows, a broad triangular nose, puckered red lips protruding above a pointed chin, petite, cup-shaped ears, and a broad forehead, all beneath a lobed coiffure/headdress with openings between, perhaps intended for an ornament or additional lobes. The face is painted with thick white pigment derived from kaolin (see more on the significance of this in the extended description below) and accentuated with black pigment on the brows and coiffure in addition to the red on the lips. The unpainted areas exhibit a fine patina and scattered deposits. Size: 5.625" L x 5" W x 11.125" H (14.3 cm x 12.7 cm x 28.3 cm); 14.875" H (37.8 cm) on included custom stand.
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "When works from Equatorial Africa in this refined style began to enter Western consciousness in the early twentieth century, they were a great enigma to art critics. Many speculated about the sources of their exotic aesthetic and even proposed possible Asian influence, though the art form was in fact indigenous to southern Gabon. Such masks were worn by virtuosic male performers of a stilt dance called 'mukudj,' which involved towering impressively while executing complex choreography and astonishing feats of acrobatics. The creator of a 'mukudj' mask would attempt to capture the likeness of the most beautiful woman in his community. . . Kaolin taken from riverbeds, which was associated with healing and with a spiritual, ancestral realm of existence, was applied to the surface of the face. By using this material, the artist both celebrated the beauty of a mortal woman and transformed her into a transcendent being."
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; purchased in Munich, Germany in the 1960s (Boris Konietzko)
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.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#160381Losses and inactive insect wear/losses to coiffure, visage, ears, and verso as shown. Cracks around left eye and across upper lid. Normal surface wear with some loss to pigmentation, but still shows nice remains of red, black, and white pigments. Two partial perforations on verso behind lips, perhaps for former attachment.Condition
- Shipping Info
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