Lot: 231

98e vente aux enchères

Encadrement de miroir

Nigéria, Yoruba

Provenance Taille Prix d’appel / Prix d'Estimation
Lauritz Sunde (1910-1979), Copenhagen, Denmark
Christophe Rolley, Bagneux, France
M: 27,5 cm x 20 cm Cet objet n’est plus disponible.

wood, camwood powder, missing part, incised number "270726069932"

The frame is carved with snake and loop motif. The masked face of "eshu" is on the back. The areas filled with fine linear engravings. At the bottom are two whimsical figures with oversized hands and triangular heads, each with an eye.

Elaborately decorated domestic utensils were the privilege of the wealthy and the powerful. Like the carved veranda posts and doors that greeted visitors to their homes, the smaller pieces, even a comb or a mirror, were also symbols of social status. Mirrors like this were popular wedding gifts.


Fagg, William, Yoruba, Sculpture of West Africa, New York 1982, p. 129, plate 38 Witte, Hans, A Closer Look, Berg en Dal 2004, p. 209, cat. 198