Yoruba, Nigeria: A ‘Gelede mask’, with six plaits.
A small, but very neatly and finely crafted head crest mask for the ‘Gelede cult’. The ‘Gelede cult’ is wide spread in the south-western settlement area of the Yoruba people, in Nigeria and beyond the border in Benin: it honours women, mothers and fertility. In grand annual ceremonies and processions male dancers perform in pairs, dressed in polychrome costumes and with these masks on their head (not on their face). The present, typical 'Gelede mask' features a hairstyle with three plaits on each side, as well as visible, typical tribal scarification marks. It is dyed red and black, and displays a good, old usage patina on the outside and on the inside. A small, old fracture on the right nostril. First half of the 20th century; H: 13 cm, L: 25 cm. (ME)
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
24.03.2014 - 16:00
- Estimate:
-
EUR 1,800.- to EUR 2,400.-
Yoruba, Nigeria: A ‘Gelede mask’, with six plaits.
A small, but very neatly and finely crafted head crest mask for the ‘Gelede cult’. The ‘Gelede cult’ is wide spread in the south-western settlement area of the Yoruba people, in Nigeria and beyond the border in Benin: it honours women, mothers and fertility. In grand annual ceremonies and processions male dancers perform in pairs, dressed in polychrome costumes and with these masks on their head (not on their face). The present, typical 'Gelede mask' features a hairstyle with three plaits on each side, as well as visible, typical tribal scarification marks. It is dyed red and black, and displays a good, old usage patina on the outside and on the inside. A small, old fracture on the right nostril. First half of the 20th century; H: 13 cm, L: 25 cm. (ME)
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
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| Auction: | Tribal Art |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction |
| Date: | 24.03.2014 - 16:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 18.03. - 24.03.2014 |