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LOT 0223

Early 20th C. African Punu Painted Wood Mask of Female

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Central Africa, Gabon, Upper Ngoume River area, Punu peoples, ca. early 20th century CE. A lovely hand-carved wooden mask depicting the head of a stylized female with a broad collar wrapped around her neck, and the mask is carved out along the verso for wear. The beautiful visage is composed of bulging ovoid eyes with carved horizontal slits beneath thin, high-arching brows, a broad triangular nose with flared nostrils, slender lips protruding outward above a pointed chin, perky ears, and a protruding forehead, all beneath a finely-incised, characteristically-ridged coiffure with a vertical shaft carved through the center. The face is painted with thick white pigment and accentuated with black on the brows and red on the lips, and the unpainted areas exhibit fine patina. Size: 4.5" W x 11.1" H (11.4 cm x 28.2 cm); 15.2" H (38.6 cm) on included custom stand.

For a strikingly-similar example, please see: Bacquart, Jean-Baptiste. "The Tribal Arts of Africa: Surveying Africa's Artistic Geography." Thames & Hudson, New York, 2000, p. 116, fig. 5.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Patrick Morgan collection, Paris, France

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.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#146495
Condition Report: Minor nicks and abrasions to face, peripheries, coiffure, and verso, with fading and chipping to areas of original pigmentation, a few stable hairline fissures, and light encrustations within some recessed areas. Light earthen deposits, traces of original pigmentation, and patina throughout.

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Time, Location
21 May 2020
USA, Louisville, CO
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[ translate ]

Central Africa, Gabon, Upper Ngoume River area, Punu peoples, ca. early 20th century CE. A lovely hand-carved wooden mask depicting the head of a stylized female with a broad collar wrapped around her neck, and the mask is carved out along the verso for wear. The beautiful visage is composed of bulging ovoid eyes with carved horizontal slits beneath thin, high-arching brows, a broad triangular nose with flared nostrils, slender lips protruding outward above a pointed chin, perky ears, and a protruding forehead, all beneath a finely-incised, characteristically-ridged coiffure with a vertical shaft carved through the center. The face is painted with thick white pigment and accentuated with black on the brows and red on the lips, and the unpainted areas exhibit fine patina. Size: 4.5" W x 11.1" H (11.4 cm x 28.2 cm); 15.2" H (38.6 cm) on included custom stand.

For a strikingly-similar example, please see: Bacquart, Jean-Baptiste. "The Tribal Arts of Africa: Surveying Africa's Artistic Geography." Thames & Hudson, New York, 2000, p. 116, fig. 5.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Patrick Morgan collection, Paris, France

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.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#146495
Condition Report: Minor nicks and abrasions to face, peripheries, coiffure, and verso, with fading and chipping to areas of original pigmentation, a few stable hairline fissures, and light encrustations within some recessed areas. Light earthen deposits, traces of original pigmentation, and patina throughout.

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Estimate
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Time, Location
21 May 2020
USA, Louisville, CO
Auction House
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