Lot: 322

95e Vente aux enchères Tribal Art

Masque féminin avec labret, avant 1914

Tanzanie, District de Lindi ou Rovuma, Makondé / Mwera

Provenance Taille Prix d’appel / Prix d'Estimation
Old German Colonial Collection H: 23 cm Cet objet n’est plus disponible.

wood, pigments, old collection label "Frauenmaske (Makonde) DOA", base

A work by the same artist was auctioned at Zemanek-Münster on 22 September 2007 (cf. AHDRC 0086531).

According to Weule (1909) masks of the Makonde represent ghosts ("midimu"). This mask is identified as female type by the lip peg "pelele".

The masks generally appeared at the end of circumcision rites, when the young boys and girls returned from the bush camps.

The masquerades fulfilled ritual as well as educational functions.


Jahn, Jens (Hg.), Tanzania, München 1994, p.434 ff.