Q: PARIS (AP) – The Native American Hopi tribe took a Paris auction house to court Tuesday to try to block the upcoming sale of 32 sacred tribal masks, arguing they are “bitterly opposed” to the use as merchandise of sacred objects that represent their ancestral spirits. The Katsinam masks are scheduled for sale at the Drouot auction house on Dec. 9 and 11, alongside an altar from the Zuni tribe. A. In the spring of this year a larger collection of Hopi Indian masks was auctioned off in Paris for over a million dollars.
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A not so typical Dan mask
Q: Bought in Liberia in 1982 when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer. Was among several that I bought from one of three Mandingos who came to my house in the Gola tribe area (just north of Monrovia and the Vai tribe territory) to show their masks to a few of us PCVs. The sale of this one mask was suspicious, because the seller did not want his colleagues to know that he had it. Could have been a ruse, but he looked genuinely fearful of his colleagues. I don’t think that he was supposed to be selling it. Dimensions: 11.5″ x 7.5″ X 3.75″ Now that I’m in my…
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Marka mask from Mali
Q: I have a collection of African old tribal masks which I took over from an old collector who for health reasons is unable to give much info. Here is one of many, I was thinking African, Mali possibly. Natasha, 588 A: Sorry to take so long to answer.
