Masque facial anthropo- / zoomorphe "idiok ekpo" · Nigéria, Ibibio · ID: 3048954
Richard Joseph Faletti, Chicago, USA (1997) - donated in 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago, USA, (Inv.12006.112)
Christie’s, Paris, 19 June 2013, Lot 65
Faletti (1922-2006) was a Chicago-based lawyer who became fascinated by African after after a business trip to the continent. As noted by R. Townsend, “With scholary zeal and the reasoned approach of a corporate attomey, Mr. Faletti became a respected collector of African art. He was a member of the advisory committee of Townsend’s department at the Art Institute and a trustee of museums, including the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
Description
wood, black encrusted patina, plant fibre, base
The “ekpo” society was the most important Ibibio political association. In the absence of a centralized political state, “ekpo” regulated social, political, and economic matters during precolonial times, and masquerades ensured law and order and active communication with ancestral spirits.
The masks show a contrastive aesthetics of beauty and ugliness. Artists use asymmetry and disproportion in their mask-making to recreate and comment upon the incongruities and contradictions of human existance, while symmetry and elegance convey ideas about morality and essential goodness.
The so-called “beauty beast” model served to instil fear and awe in people and to invoke the threat of force and authority necessary to maintain order.
L’objet Masque facial anthropo- / zoomorphe “idiok ekpo” avec l’ID d’objet 3048954 a fait partie de la dernière vente aux enchères 98e vente aux enchères dans 26 mars 2022 le Zemanek-Münster Hôtel des ventes. L’objet portant le numéro de lot 202 a atteint un prix de vente de 3 300 €.
Vous trouverez d’autres Masques et autres types d’objets populaires sur nos pages thématiques associées. Notre page sur le thème Art africain pourrait également vous intéresser.
Publications
Roberts, Mary Nooter & Roberts, Allen F., "A Sense of Wonder, African Art from the Faletti Family Collection", Phoenix Art Museum, 1997, p.103, cat. 46b
AHDRC: 0124065
Exposition
USA: "A Sense of Wonder. African Art from the Faletti Family Collection", 1997-2000: - Phoenix: Phoenix Art Museum, 13 December 1997- 8 February 1998 - Chicago: Smart Museum of Art. University of Chicago, 14 May- 28 June 1998 - Urbana-Champaign: Krannert Art Museum. University of Illinois, 18 September - 1 November 1998 - Davenport: Davenport Museum of Art, 18 April -13 June 1999 - Boise: Boise Art Museum, 26 February - 7 May 2000