Ancestor figure with mask
Angola/Zambia, Chokwe
sold
EUR 2,000
Provenance
Halter Collection (~1960)Serge Diakonoff, Geneva, Switzerland
Loiseau-Schmitz-Digard, St. Germain en Laye, 3 Juin 1997, lot 543
Yves Créhalet, Paris, France
Size
H: 111 cm
H: 43.7 inch
Description
wooden body, entirely wrapped in net-like plant fibre costume with abundant grass fibre loincloth, crowned by helmet-shaped crest from rattan coated with bark cloth, facial contours and nose formed by plant fibre bulges, completely spread with blackish mass and painted in red and white, slightly dam., breakage (both arms), crack (mass);
among the Chokwe and the related Lovale and Lunda peoples, figures such as the present served a didactic function, and were used to instruct initiates as to the different types of ancestral spirits and dance skills. The Chokwe know over one hundred types of masked characters called “makishi”.
Publications
AHDRC: 0142354