Old helmet mask · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3039551

Name: Old helmet mask
SKU: 3039551
Price: 2200 EUR
Availability: SoldOut

sold EUR 2,200

Provenance

Heinz Reschke, Frankfurt, Germany (Curator at the Museum of Ethnology Frankfurt am Main; he was a scholar and assistant of the famous ethnologist Leo Frobenius from 1934-1938)

Size

H: 23,5 cm

H: 9.3 inch

Description

“gelede” mask style, but made from metal (presumably bronze alloy), minor missing parts in the cast, dark patina;
a work of the artist Ali Amonikoyi (1880-1920); collected in the village Kete Krachi, Togo, around 1900. Amonikoyi was a Yoruba born in Nigeria who migrated to Togo. There he used ancient brass-casting techniques to make mask forms resembling Yoruba “gelede” masks. These masks were placed on top of graves as memorials to the deceased, rather than being worn in dance performances. Some of his masks are nowadays kept by the Brooklyn Museum, New York.

The object Old helmet mask with the object ID 3039551 was last part of the auction 81st Tribal Art Auction at October 31, 2015 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 373 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,200.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.

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