A Mumuye shoulder mask, composed of two elongated bottom sections that form the helmet, which are empty inside, on the top of which is a thin cylindric neck carrying a rounded head, composed of simple features of a slightly opened mouth, insisted nose and two round eyes, large ears on the side of the face, the hair is pulled upwards, the face has scarifications markings, inlayed with white pigment, attachment on the rims of the mask; signs of use.

"The art of the Mumuye people is one of the most celebrated and innovative sculptural traditions from Africa. Their distinctive and ingenious mode of representing the human form as a set of geometric volumes captured the wider attention of the outside world at a relatively late date. It was not until the 1960s that Philippe Guimiot discovered the extraordinary statuary of the Mumuye people, and Philippe Guimiot and Jacques Kerchache were the first to reveal this major form of African art to an audience of Western connoisseurs.

One of the only Western art historians to witness these statues being used in their original context was Arnold Rubin, who noted: "The high degree of stylistic diversity is paralleled by the variety of functions of Mumuye figures: some were used as oracles, others in connection with healing, and still others reinforced the status of important elders as embodiments of vaguely conceived tutelary spirits. Sometimes, one figure was employed in two or more of these capacities. A particular function cannot be correlated with size, style, or other formal attributes." (Arnold Rubin in Susan M. Vogel, ed., For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, New York, 1981, p. 155)."

Source: Sothebys.

sold

Height: 105 cm
Weight: 6,4 kg