Anthropomorphic dance crest · Nigeria, Boki · ID: 3044254
sold
EUR 6,500
Provenance
Paolo Morigi, Magliaso, SwitzerlandSotheby’s, Paris, 6 December 2005, lot 78
Size
H: 23 cm
H: 9.1 inch
Description
wood, hide, hair, rattan, collection label “Morigi Lugano No. 109”, base
The Boki live in areas bodering the Cross River in both southeast Nigeria and Cameroon. Until very recently hunting associations were common throughout the region. A man could only achieve membership in such an organization once he had slain a wild animal. Such establishments often used such head crests in performances at specific times of the hunting year, and at the funerals of members.
Comparing literature
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Ekoi, München 1982, p. 16, ill. 2 Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 234
Publications
Bastin, Marie-Louise, Introduction aux arts d' Afrique noire, Arnouville 1984, p. 230, ill. 234, Arts d'Afrique Noire 73 (1990)AHDRC: 0090865