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THBEarly 20th C. Papua New Guinea Fiber Baba Tagwa Mask
Lot 298
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:
$550 - $825
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|---|---|
| $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
Jul 8, 2021
Set Reminder
2021-07-08 10:00:00
2021-07-08 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : CLEARANCE | Ancient & Ethnographic Art
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/clearance-ancient-ethnographic-art-7173
Kick off summer with our clearance sale featuring discounted pricing and many new items at superb prices! 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! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
Kick off summer with our clearance sale featuring discounted pricing and many new items at superb prices! 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! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
View Full Catalog (372)
- Lot Description
**Originally Listed At $400**
Oceania, Papua New Guinea, East Sepik, Abelam, early 20th century CE. A fantastic hand-painted and woven vegetal fiber mask with abstract stylized features and painted surfaces. The large circular eyes are separated by a long nasal ridge with a loop at the end, perhaps for hanging additional ornamentation. The top of the head is crowned with a fan-like headdress, and behind that area are three loops holding a small piece of wood in place. Pigments of red, white, and black highlight these dramatic features. The Abelam and neighboring peoples of the Sepik region of northeast New Guinea create various types of basketry masks. This type is known as baba tagwa, a helmet-like form intended to be worn over the head. For the Abelam, baba tagwa masks have associations with the male initiation cycle. Men dressed in intricate costumes comprised of leaves wear them. For some ceremonies, figures donning baba tagwa masks act as guards. Wielding intimidating bamboo stalks or other weapons, they drive off uninitiated men, women, and children, who are not allowed to witness the secret initiation rites. Size: 15.5" L x 10" W x 11" H (39.4 cm x 25.4 cm x 27.9 cm)
Other yam masks have traditionally been used to adorn the 'heads' of huge tubers rather than humans. Curious? Indeed, the Abelam cultivate massive yams in addition to the ordinary variety. These can be as much as 12 feet long, and special masks have traditionally been created for festivals surrounding the cherished yam, the crucial crop of the Abelam people of northeast Papua New Guinea. What's more, men take great pride in their ability to grow oversized yams. According to the curatorial department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "A man’s social status is determined largely by his success in growing long yams. Each man has a permanent exchange partner to whom he ceremonially presents his largest yams following the annual harvest, later receiving those of his rival in return. Men who are consistently able to give their partners longer yams than they receive gain great prestige. Lavishly adorned for the presentation ceremony, the finest long yams are essentially transformed into human images, decorated in the manner of men in full ceremonial regalia."
Provenance: private Englewood, Colorado, USA collection; ex-Martin Boxer collection; ex-Komor Gallery, New York City, New York, USA circa 1965
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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#160613Fraying to headdress and a circular ornament is loose and attached to the side with modern wire. Some fading of pigments. Light mineral deposits.Condition
- Shipping Info
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