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An object d’art wooden bird mask, with a quality suitable for a museum exhibit. Superbly carved by Chokwe artisans to honor divine ancestors. Acquired from a Pretoria South African Gallery whose owner has direct access to chiefs in the Congo. Based on my purchases and…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-2486
- Provenance/Origin: DNC, Congo. Circa 1975 - 1900s
- Composition: Wood, pigment, woven vegetal fibers
- Dimensions: 16" tall x 12" wide x 8" deep
- Weight: 4 pounds (mask alone)
- Price: $ 1,195.00 USD
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One of the three known royal masks, the helmet Bwoom is one of the oldest mask types used by the Kuba. These were introduced in the 17th Century by King Miko mi-Mbul. Most often used in funerals, they are also used…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-5805
- Provenance/Origin: Kuba peoples. DRC. Circa mid-1900s
- Composition: Wood. Twine and fabric.
- Dimensions: 15" tall x 14" at widest x 16" deep
- Weight: 7.5 pounds (mask alone)
- Price: $ 835.00 USD
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I have seen many spears from this region of New Guinea during my 50 years of collecting but not quite like this one. The intricate wood carving with its design and detail is quite spectacular. I believe it is carved from Black Palm. Black Palm is…
Continue reading → - Item Number: O-8462
- Provenance/Origin: PNG. Blackwater. Circa mid-1990s
- Composition: Wood, perhaps Black Palm
- Dimensions: 43" long x 4" at widest
- Weight: 1.25 pounds
- Price: $ 378.00 USD
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The Yoruba peoples inhabit a large part of southwestern Nigeria. They have been known to place their trust in the powers of the fetish to assist them during times of need. A fetish – aka Nkisi – is a wood carving that the village…
Continue reading → - Item Number: S-6567
- Provenance/Origin: Yoruba. SW Nigeria. Circa mid-1900s
- Composition: Wood, cloth, fibers, metal
- Dimensions: 12" tall x 4.5" wide x 4" deepest
- Weight: 1.75 pounds
- Price: $ 385.00 USD
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Sure, the Ibans / Dayaks were renowned for practicing headhunting to further territorial expansion. They had a fearsome reputation until the Europeans arrived with their colonization in the 1800s. Some headhunting episodes were reported into the mid-1900s. There were rituals, ceremonies and festivals all…
Continue reading → - Item Number: O-2751
- Provenance/Origin: Dayak, Indonesia, Circa 1940s. From a private collection
- Composition: Wood and metal stand
- Dimensions: 36.5" on stand x 1.5" diameter at widest point
- Weight: 2.25 pounds
- Price: $ 465.00 USD
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This mask was used in a dramatic form of Indonesian dance called Topeng. Such masks are used to interpret traditional stories concerning fabled kings, heros and myths. Hand made and hand painted in the mid-1900s and acquired in Cirebon in West Java (about 200 miles east…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-2237
- Provenance/Origin: Cirebon West Java Indonesia. Mid-1900s
- Composition: Wood, paint
- Dimensions: 13" tall x 8" wide x 2.75" deep
- Weight: 2 pounds
- Price: $ 125.00 USD
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Manjushri (aka The Gentle Glory) is the oldest / most significant Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism and is the embodiment of transcendent wisdom. His right hand holds a flaming sword, which represents the sharpness of prajna that can cut through the growth of suffering and the net of…
Continue reading → - Item Number: F-8748
- Provenance/Origin: China. Chengu
- Composition: Silk, paper, paint, wood, ribbon
- Dimensions: Image: 4 x 5.75"; Overall: 8.5 x 14"
- Weight: 1 pound
- Price: $ 26.00 USD
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Manjushri – the oldest and most significant Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism – is the embodiment of transcendent wisdom. As a fully enlightened Bodhisattva, he is respected and worshipped as a “meditational” diety. For those who meditate on him, he instructs in the Dharma and stimulates them…
Continue reading → - Item Number: F-5397
- Provenance/Origin: China. Chengu
- Composition: Silk. Gold paint. Ink. Wood.
- Dimensions: Image: 12 x 17"; Overall: 19 x 32"
- Weight: 1 pound
- Price: $ 46.00 USD
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The Manyanga tribe live on the right bank of the Zaire (aka Congo) River. The location is near the tributary of the Lefini River. This is a relatively unknown tribe whose artists are known for their elongated faces, rounded cheeks, carefully rendered faces and nails. …
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-1535
- Provenance/Origin: Manyanga Tribe. Congo. Circa mid-1900s, perhaps the 1930s.
- Composition: Wood, pigments, nails, cloth with minor embellishments
- Dimensions: 18" tall x 11" wide x 6.5" deep
- Weight: 4.25 pounds
- Price: $ 315.00 USD
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The solidarity of the Bakongo people has a long history based on the dynamics of the Kongo Kingdom, first discovered in the fifteenth century by a Portuguese explorer. There are numerous subgroups / tribes that make up the cultural and spiritual complex. Examples: the Vili,…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-1791
- Provenance/Origin: Bakongo, Congo, DRC. Mid-1940s
- Composition: Wood and some fiber
- Dimensions: 10.5" tall x 9" wide x 5" deep
- Weight: 1.5 pounds
- Price: $ 295.00 USD
