Helmet mask "lipiko" for the "mapiko" dance · Mozambique, Makonde, Mueda Plateau · ID: 3035251
Vendu
2 800 €
Provenance
James Thomas Hooper, Arundel, Great BritainChristie’s, London, “African Art from the James Hooper Collection”, 14 July 1976, lot 105
Sotheby’s, London, 12 July 1977, lot 165
Description
wood, beamless reddish brown patina, accents in dar kbrown, the eye zone accentuated by raised zigzag-shaped scarifications, the nose extremely flat, the big diamond-shaped mouth with thick lips and jagged teeth, the area of the coiffure deepened and braided with real hair, collection number in white paint at the lower rim: “H.1893”, slightly dam., abrasion, rep. (breakage at the chin), socle;
“lipiko” masks appeared at initiation celebrations. They were worn by the young initiates “vaali” at the “mapiko” masquerade. They depict woman rather than men and were kept in special sacred mask houses outside the village.
Littérature comparée
Fenzl, Kristian, Makonde, Linz 1997, p. 173 ff.