A Sango or Vuvi facemask
2565
A fine Sango or Vuvi facemask
Gabon, beautifully stylized and well-balanced. Finely carved; the wood showing signs of age. Fine well pigmented surface.
height 13 1/2in
Estimate:
US$ 25,000 - 35,000
£16,000 - 23,000
€19,000 - 27,000

Footnotes

  • Provenance:
    Michel Egloff

    Exhibited:
    Governors State University, IL, 2003
    Krannert Art Museum, IL, 2003
    Belger Art Foundation/University of Missouri-Kansas City, MO, 2004
    Tall Grass Art Association, IL, 2005

    Published:
    Bourgeois and Rodolitz, REMNANTS OF RITUAL: SELECTIONS FROM THE GELBARD COLLECTION OF AFRICAN ART, Ethnos, New York, 2003, p.29, fig.66


    Masks of this particular type have often been attributed to the Vuvi or Pove people in Gabon, and are related to the white faced masks of the Ogowe River area, and suggests a possible analogous function. The arching brows and simple smiling face of this mask are pleasing and well proportioned, while the carver displayed an adept ability in balancing these seemingly simple constituent parts into a truly complex whole.

Category: Ethnographic Art / Native American

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