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Lot 71

Mende Helmet Mask, Sierra Leone

13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New York

Sold for US$4,375 inc. premium

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Mende Helmet Mask, Sierra Leone

sowei
height 13in (33cm)

Provenance
Charles M. Miller, III, St. James, New York

Published
Mato, Daniel and Charles Miller III, Sande: Masks and Statues from Liberia and Sierra-Leone, Gallery Balolu, Amsterdam, 1900, pages 36-37

Finely carved with deeply hollowed conical form, the domed coiffure divided by eight vertical bands, one with woven silver applied down the center, four of the bands in V-form with knobs at the end possibly representing miniature Koranic talismans, all supporting a three-tiered, square-form element on top; the braided coiffure at the midsection bordered by a band with an incised linear design, curving and peaking above the facial plane with an enlarged, domed and convex forehead with five incised circles forming an upside down cross; a diminutive face with horizontal slit eyes, triangular nose with flared nostrils above an open mouth holding a plug above a pointed chin; three ribs around the neck and pierced along the lower edge for fiber attachments; glossy black patina with old erosion to the top and back rim, indicative of significant age and cultural use.

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