Featured 5 Tribal Masks - please help

Discussion in 'Tribal Art' started by wildrose, Nov 27, 2018.

  1. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

    Pops brought home 5 tribal masks today from the thrifts. A lady and her son nearly knocked him down trying to purchase them from him, even followed him to another shop!!

    I will post them throughout this thread mask1.jpg mask1a.jpg mask1b.jpg

    Here is #1
     
  2. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

  3. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

  4. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

  5. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

  6. i need help

    i need help Moderator Moderator

  7. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    The first one does not look like a mask to me. I see an amusing figure of a mouse on its back, feet in the air. Size?
     
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  8. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

    12" by 6" by 8". better pics. IMG_8213.JPG IMG_8212.JPG
     
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  9. i need help

    i need help Moderator Moderator

    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
    Jivvy, judy, Any Jewelry and 3 others like this.
  10. Lucille.b

    Lucille.b Well-Known Member

    Masks are not my specialty in the least, but I know what I see at the thrift and it isn't close to what these look like. Intriguing!

    If the two auctions INH found are any indication, these are worth some money. (Well done again, INH :))

    I think that Pops scored!
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
  11. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
  12. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    Even I can tell that some of those have been worn. Pops may have scored big. Even the ones I can't tell on are better than airport art, and they look old. Whoever carved those knew what he was doing.
     
    kyratango, judy, Bronwen and 2 others like this.
  13. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    they're all tourist works.....but....there is some age there !
     
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  14. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    I agree, all tourist, but mostly very nice quality. Pops did well.

    Tourist ware isn't always bad, some of it ends up being very collectable. Think of 19th century Italian pietra dura and micro-mosaics, Bali Art Deco, Walter Kramer jewellery (early Modernist from the German Baltic resort of Fischland), etc.
    And it is a way of preserving crafts that would otherwise be lost.
     
  15. Diggummup

    Diggummup Well-Known Member

    Nice lot of masks. I like that warthog mask the best.

    I purchased a lot of tourist masks once. Ended up doing pretty well compared to what I had invested in them.

    [​IMG]
     
  16. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    I must disagree with @komokwa and @Any Jewelry (sorry guys). The Bwa warthog, Baule portrait mask, and Ibo mask show features consistent with masks made for use rather than as tourist wall hangers. They are stylistically appropriate, and have the holes around the rim that would be used to attach the cloth or raffia that would have covered the dancer. They may not be "museum" quality, but still genuine. I am not as familiar with the Eket sun mask tradition, but it also shows signs of having been made for use.
    Pieces made for sale typically do not have means for attaching the costume (why bother?), often have non-traditional colors and finishes, and show little signs of use, like the last one posted by @wildrose.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    reverse of another Bwa mask

    Baule portrait mask being danced:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    http://christas.dk/baule-mask/
    Note treatment of the rim. This site gives a good description of the Mblo dance in which such portrait masks would be worn, noting that "The costume would have been attached to the mask by cords that were threaded through the holes in the mask."

    Igbo dancer:
    [​IMG]
     
  17. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

    thank you all so much for taking the time to respond. I guess that lady was chasing him for a reason. LOL
     
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  18. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!


    Your link...read the fine print !!!

    " Although elegantly carved, this Baule mask shows no evidence of age or use and was probably made to be sold. It includes a bite bar."
     
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  19. wildrose

    wildrose Well-Known Member

    our bite bar has teeth marks.. LOL
     
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  20. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    well then it's possible that it was used.........or chewed...!
     
    2manybooks, Any Jewelry and wildrose like this.
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