Online catalogue for the 63rd tribal art auction with special part 'wunderkammer'

321 Two masks "gelede"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

wood, polychrome paint, one mask face bearded with a conical projecting head gear, carved with four knifes running around, dam., missing parts (nose, left ear, knife, coiffure); the second mask with painted skin scarification marks and a high towering head crest, partly in diamond-shaped openwork design, dam., missing parts (mouth, left alar wing), paint rubbed off, old age patina

H: 33 cm; 34 cm
H: 13 inch; 13.4 inch

Provenance
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Sold.

322 Two masks "gelede"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

wood, polychrome painting, nearly identical faces with big pierced see holes underneath roof-like protruding eyelids, the masks differ in coiffure and skin scarification marks (painted and incised), dam., minor missing parts, places of repair (tongue-shaped projections, left alar wing), traces of nails around the rim, old age patina; "gelede" is a society exclusively for men. In the Southwest they used to send their masks to all the villages around in order to increase fertility and to repel harm. In some areas men begging for fertility of their women, are disguised like transvestites, wearing body masks of a pregnant woman together with the gelede helmet masks.

H: jeweils 30 cm
H: jeweils 11.8 inch

Provenance
Houesson Mathieu, Porto Novo, Benin, 1972 (mask on the right)
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Sold.

323 Dance staff "oshe shango"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

wood, greyish black patina, round handle with disc-shaped platform, carved with a female figure, flanked by two smaller figures, the lower part of the body extremely simplified, dominated by a big head with massive double axe symbol, dam., missing parts (both breasts), cracks (base)

H: 36 cm, coll. in situ, Lome, Togo (1970)
H: 14.2 inch, coll. in situ, Lome, Togo (1970)

Provenance
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Sold.

324 Mask "gelede"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

wood, painted in white, black and indigo blue, helmet-shaped with cascade-like arranged coiffure, crowned by the corpus of a drum, slightly dam. (nose, mouth), cracks, abraded paint, places of repair (corpus of the drum/head, handle of the drum, side projection); in contrast to Yoruba societies attended to the worshipping of ancestors, the "gelede" society is concentrated on powers manifest in the world of the living ("aye"), and associated in particular with women. The most important protective deity of "gelede" is "yemoja" or "yemania", the goddess of the rivers and of the sea, who is synonymous with "iyanla", the "Big Mother".

H: 29 cm, coll. in Lome, Togo, 1966
H: 11.4 inch, coll. in Lome, Togo, 1966

Provenance
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Sold.

325 Deformation mask "idiok ekpo"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Ibibio

wood, black patina, of oval hollowed form, boils on forehead and chin, dislocated facial features, the mouth with bare teeth shifted to the right, the trunk-like nose to the left, pronounced lacrimals, crossbar backside for fixing the mask with the teeth, raised tattoos on the temples, dam., minor missing parts (lids, nose), paint rubbed off; various ethnical groups produced sickness masks. Aside of "gangosa pharyngitis" above all facial paralysis is depicted. Such illnesses are thought to be evidence of evil, and thus frequently are seen as subjects of "ugly ghost" masks.

H: 28 cm
H: 11 inch

Provenance
Dr. Scheiber, Lome, Togo (1970)
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Literature
Herreman, Frank, To Cure and Protect, Sickness and Health in African Art, New York 1999, p. 12

Sold.

326 Mask of a dignitary

This object is not available any more.

Cameroon Grassfields, Bamileke

wood, blackish brown patina, helmet-shaped, voluminous forms, a big mouth revealing two rows of regular teeth, crowned by a bulbous headgear in openwork design, showing a stylized spider motif, slightly dam., minor missing parts (backside), cracks, place of repair (backside?), traces of insect caused damage; the spider motif is widely spread in the Grassfields of Cameroon. The spider is a symbol for wisdom and plays an important role in truth telling.

H: 44 cm
H: 17.3 inch

Provenance
René David, Zurich, Switzerland
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Literature
Northern, Tamara, The Art of Cameroon, Washington D.C. 1984, ill. 81

Price: 800 - 1600 €

327 Two tobacco pipe bowls

This object is not available any more.

Cameroon Grassfields, Bamileke

terracotta, black patina, in shape of a sitting figure with large head and diadem-like head crest, dam., minor missing parts, rest.; the second pipe head in shape of a stylized human head, dam., missing parts (backside at the rim), rest., acrylic base; the smoking of locally grown tobacco was common in the Grassfields during the 19th and 20th century. The owning of decorated terracotta pipes and cast metal pipes was the prestige of sovereigns and dignitaries.

H: 15 cm resp. 12 cm
H: 5.9 inch resp. 4.7 inch

Provenance
Ludwig Bretschneider, Munich, Germany
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Literature
Gebauer, Paul, Art of Cameroon, New York 1979, p. 343

Price: 300 - 500 €

328 Knives

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo

2 pieces, metal, wood, copper wire, a knife of the Mangbetu with sickle-shaped blade, the wooden handle wrapped in copper wire, l: 44 cm; additional: a knife "ikula" of the Kuba with elaborate decorated wooden handle, l: 37,5 cm, both showing slight traces of corrosion and abrasion

Provenance
Kegel-Konietzko, Hamburg, Germany (ikula)
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Literature
Fischer, Werner, Zirngibl, Manfred A., Afrikanische Waffen, Passau 1978, p. 65 f. & 151

Sold.

329 Standing figure

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Chokwe

wood, reddish brown patina, massive, summary forms, neck, narrow shoulders and arms amalgamated, accentuated cut facial features with black paint rubbed into the deepenings, linear incised scarification marks, slightly dam., hairline cracks, missing parts (both feet), acrylic base

H: 36 cm
H: 14.2 inch

Provenance
Theo Bosbach, Brazzaville
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Sold.

330 Mask "mwana pwo"

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Chokwe

wood, reddish brown patina, black paint, of oval form with tribe-typical facial features, scarification marks and metal earrings, plaited plant fibre bonnet backside, pierced around the rim, min. dam.; depicting a female ancestor, whereupon the Chokwe distinguish two characters: "pwo", a mature, adult woman and "mwana pwo", the younger female. Masks with few scarification details are more often said to represent the younger character.

H: 21 cm
H: 8.3 inch

Provenance
Kegel-Konietzko, Hamburg, Germany
Coll. Heinz Seeliger, Würzburg, Germany

Sold.