Lot: 235

82nd Tribal Art Auction

Two ceremonial axes

Tanzania, Nyamwesi

Provenance Size Starting price / estimated price
Hans Dietrich Rielau, Hösbach, Germany H: 19.3 inch This object is not available anymore.

wood, brown patina, iron, shaft with elaborate incised ornaments, crowned by a human head with grooved coiffure and scarification marks, eyes inset with miniature glass beads, minor missing parts at the bottom; additional: a smaller axe of the Rungu, D. R. Kongo, h: 37 cm, a circular shaft supporting a thickened head piece with inserted metal blade, crowned by a crudely carved human head with flattened face halves, slightly dam., cracks, traces of corrosion (both blades)


Jahn, Jens (Hg.), Tanzania, Meisterwerke afrikanischer Kunst, München 1994, p. 144