This is the rating and price for African Songye Wooden Male Kifwebe Mask, 2002

Description : Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Songye peoples, ca. first half of the 20th century CE. A hand-carved Kifwebe (mask in the Songye language) of a highly abstract form featuring protruding hollow eyes that flank a prominent nasal crest that extends towards the carved-out verso and indicates the male gender. A rectangular column projects outward beneath the triangular nose with a recessed mouth, and dozens of wavy bands that course across the mask are painted in an alternating pattern of blue, white, and yellow pigments. Smooth patina has developed in areas of missing original pigment. Size: 10.6 W x 20.3 H (26.9 cm x 51.6 cm) The most well-known masks of the Songye culture are Kifwebe masks worn in connection with the secret society known as the Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe. According to African and ethnology experts Iris Hahner-Herzog et al., Bifwebe (sing. Kifwebe) masks belong to the accoutrements of a society of the same name that to this day enjoys extreme respect among the eastern Songye. The society includes individuals with supernatural power (basha masende) who are believed to manipulate spirits by means of magical techniques. The masks, supplemented by a woven costume and a long beard of raffia bast, dance at various ceremonies. They are worn by men who act as police at the behest of a ruler, or to intimidate the enemy in case of war. (Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Maria Kecskesi, and Laszlo Vajda. African Masks from the Barbier-Mueller Collection, Geneva. Prestel Verlag, Munich, 2002, p. 212.) A stylistically similar example of a smaller size hammered for $27,500 at Sotheby's, New York Art of Africa, Oceania, and The Americas auction (May 15, 2017, lot 115). Another stylistically similar example of a larger size hammered for $137,000 at Sotheby's, New York The Collection of Allan Stone: African, Pre-Columbian & American Indian Art - Volume Two auction (May 16, 2014, lot 80). Provenance: ex-private old New England, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #154322
Price: 1 867.50 USD It's free to register now to view!
Estimate (low-high) : 3000 USD-4500 USD It's free to register now to view!

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