Frieze mask · Papua New Guinea - West Sepik, Aitape · ID: 3043845
Heinrich “Heinz” Josef Bründl, Munich, Germany
Michael Evans, Dijon, France
Lehner (1887-1963) was a photographer and early member of the “Cowboy Club Munich”, founded in 1913. He was a collector of ethnographics from North American, Africa and Papua New Guinea. Bründl (born 1948) became a member of the “Cowboy Club Munich” at the age of twenty which aroused his interest in foreign cultures. He became a renowned collector mainly of cultural objects from the North American Indians.
Description
wood, colourful painted, base
The mask probably comes frrom the north coast near Aitape (former “Berlinhafen”), which is located in the Sandaun Province in the west of Papua New Guinea. During the German colonial period (1885-1919) “Berlinhafen” was an important base for the plantation economy. Pieces from this area are rare and mostly come from German times.
The mask is documented by a photo from 1925, which shows the collector Franz Xaver Lehner in his apartment in Westendstraße 78 in Munich. With a cowboy hat and animal tooth chain he posed in front of selected pieces of his collection.
The object Frieze mask with the object ID 3043845 was last part of the auction 89th Tribal Art Auction at July 7, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 37 achieved a sales price of EUR 4,000.
You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on Oceanian art.
Comparing literature
Craig, Barry (ed.), Living spirits with fixed abodes, Honolulu 2010, p. 210 ff.