Q: Found this mask at a local flea market this summer. Didn’t pay much for it, or several others from the same guy. I have not seen any like them before. The top is an old cloth with a soft wood framework supporting it. Not counting all the raffia it is about 10 inches long by 7 inches wide. Height is 5 inches. I really got lucky at the flea market when I picked up these 9 great masks for under two hundred dollars. Fred, 1236 A: I’m going to guess and say this comes from the Piaroa-Huarime people who live along the Orinoko River in the northern Amazon basin.…
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David Norden Buy African Antiques
Check out this auction that is starting tomorrow at a French auction house called Catawiki. There are five African masks from David Norton for sale. The quality appears to be very good, starting bids are reasonable, and the auction charge is just 9%. The one I’m showing is a Mbuya from the Pende people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The others are Kuba, Winiama, Ituri and Lega. Nice masks.
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Sinhalese mask from Sri Lanka
Rrakasa Mask Sri Lanka Wood, pigment Early 20th Century 7 inches A stunning mask by any measure, this demon portrayal was used to heal through exorcism. Thomas Murray www.tmurrayarts.com I think it is important for collectors to know that the unique masks we think of as Sri Lankan comes from the Sinhalese people who occupy the southern and central parts of the island. A majority of Sinhalese people adhere to Theravada Buddhism rather than Hinduism.The origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War lie in the continuous political rancor between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils who live in the north. The roots of the modern conflict go back to…
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Another Eskimo mask from Alaska
Q: I bought a series of Yup’ik masks from an antique dealer–they were from an estate sale and had been originally purchased in the 1950s. I just wanted your opinion of this particular one (which is one of the two best ones in the collection). The dimensions are 22″ high, 8″ wide for mask alone, 14″ wide including lattice sticks on side (which I think represent ripples in the water) but not including appendages, and about 2 1/2″ depth for mask alone (not including appendages). Matthew, 1234 A: Yup’ik masks play an important role in the ceremonial life of these Eskimos who live close to the Bering Sea. A…
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Can you identify this mask?
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Blended mask from West Africa
Q: Please help me identify what kind of mask is that and if its authentic or any information you can give me will be highly appreciated. Thank you! Natalya, 1233 A: You can easily say this mask is from somewhere in West Africa. It certainly has a nice looking face with a great bird on top, but I can’t tell what tribe made it. The design elements are a mix coming from different cultures in that part of Africa. We see a lot of blended masks these days. This should not surprise– Africans, like us, can easily see masks from other places. Authenticity means used for celebrations rather than sale…
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Fern mask from Thomas Murray
When I see something this unusual I just have to pass it along to our readers. Ritual mask Malekula Island, Vanuatu Fern root 19th or early 20th Century 13.5 inches This mask of extraordinary presence and age is likely to have been carved on Malekula Island for a spirit ritual. The purpose of such pieces has not been well documented but the great ones, as in this case, are plainly early. Save
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How masks help tell the legend of the Wild Woman
Tsonokwa transformation masks made by artist Scott Jensen are part of the Whatcom Museum education collection. The story of Tsonokwa (Dzunuk’wa, Tsonoqua) or Wild Woman of the Woods, is a Northwest Coast Native legend about a mythical, dark-haired, large female being who captures children and carries them home in a basket to eventually eat them. Parents used the Tsonokwa story as a warning to keep their children safe and discourage them from venturing too far into the forest “or Tsonokwa might get you and eat you.” In the story, the children usually manage to outwit Tsonokwa and escape from her captivity. Many Northwest Coast native artists have created cedar masks…
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Younger buyers and five figure sales mark “turning point”
This Ivory Coast Ligbi mask was one of the highlight sales at the recent edition of Tribal Art London. The anthropomorphic face mask, measuring 30cm (12in) tall, is carved in wood with pigments, cloth and fibers. It was offered with a good provenance for a price in the region of $16,000 by first-time exhibitor Mark Eglinton, who is based in New York. Tribal Art London, which took place from September 6-9 at the Mall Galleries, featured 23 exhibitors. It was the largest event to date for the fair which is now 10 years old. It is organized by Bryan Reeves of Tribal Gathering London who called this a “turning point”.…
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Eskimo artifacts: fantasy in a cold climate
This is part of an article by Susan More in the Sep 29, 2017 Financial Times. Both masks are Yup’ik and, if you found one, it better be a recently-made fake or you surely wouldn’t be able to afford it. These are more Surreal than we are!, an indignant André Breton apparently exclaimed when he first encountered a Yup’ik ceremonial mask in New York. It is little wonder that the Surrealists were fascinated by these colored, strikingly adorned artifacts since they are among the most inventive, expressive and fantastical of all tribal arts. We threw ourselves into the poetic atmosphere of the Eskimo masks. We breathe in Alaska, we dream…
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Decorative wall hanging
Q: Could you please tell me more about this mask, where it’s from and if it has any value? Ronald, 1228 A: I normally publish real masks on the Mask Man blog, not decorative art. But I thought this might be a copy of a Japanese Bugaku mask. Wrong! Only places like India, Nepal, China and Indonesia do masks with their tongue hanging out. And this is obviously not a real mask, but something nobody could wear. It can only be art for the wall. One of the problems with non-masks is that they often add and subtract features that come from other cultures. This is confusing and something most…
