Songye Style Female Dance Mask

A distinctive 19th century pine wood Chinese opera mask. From Hunan Province, circa 1880. A fun piece. M518

A beautifully carved early 19th Century Chinese mask with traces of original color. From Hunan Province.

A beautifully carved early 19th century elm wood tiger mask from Shanxi Province. Complete with custom-made black stone stand. Measures: Mask: L 10, D 7, H...

A striking 18th Century poplar wood Chinese mask, with traces of original paint. Mounted on custom iron stand. From Shanxi Province, late 18th Century. M615a

19th century, Chinese camphor wood opera masks, with original paint. From Hunan Province. Stands included. Priced individually. M427.   

A beautifully patinated early 20th century Balinese clown mask with original paint. This handmade and skilfully carved mask was used in dance ceremonies. Th...

Very important “Nwantamtay” dance African mask, consisting of three sections: The upper in plain rectangular shape surmounted by a crescent shape moon, the middle with beautiful geometric triangles in black bitumen and white kaolin, surrounding a red cruciform in the centre of remarkable contrasting colors, and the lower part or face inscribed in a circular space that inspired numbered great artists like Joan Miro, Picasso and Henry Moore of a very strongly solar symbolism, with a projecting protuberance emanating from the forehead like a sculpted bird beak, that descents toward the mouth. Concentric eyes harmonize with the circular mouth, both with of elegant proportions. The whole mask exudes a supreme harmony and perfect balance rarely seen in this pieces. The back-side presents nice ware that attested the ancient origin and traces of animistic ceremonies as the use of animal blood residues. The painting of brown bitumen or cola, the natural colorants in red and ocher tones and the white kaolin are original and do not show any repainted or restored areas, giving a freshness rarely seen in old pieces. This exceptional mask Bwa, of the Hound`e Region in Burkina-Fasso, was used it the transit ceremonies and funerals manifesting the presence of “Do”, name given to their God sons, protectors and powerful spirits. The round face also represents an owl, the curving beak of the bird plants a seed into the sun, like a female sexual vulva being fecundated by the male organ; the eternal symbol of Ying and Yang, masculine and feminine, and the quest of life and death. This mask of Primitive facture can be compared to the one in the celebrated Verite Collection (this one being larger) sold in Paris at the Hotel Drouot, Saturday June 17, Lot 59, for 80,000 Euros and remarkably stands out from the Pierre and Tannia Matisse sold in Sotheby’s, New York in May 13, 2011. Another similar piece was published in: “Arman et l’art africain...

Exceptional artistically hand carved wood mask hand painted made of single piece of wood and was made for decorative purpose. Very intriguing and...

Exceptional hand carved wood mask hand painted, made of single piece of wood and was made for decorative purpose. Very intriguing and mysterious ...

Exceptional hand carved wood mask with graphic elements, made of a single piece of wood and was made for decorative purposes. Very intriguing and...

Carved grotesque wood mask with pierced eyes, very hooked nose, cigar between very crooked bone teeth. Label on verso reads, “Willi Huggler (Swiss, 1925-2016), Holzschnitzereien, Bri...

Attributed to the Yoruba people of western Nigeria, this wooden headdress was worn during a masquerade known as egungun. A widespread Yoruba ritual, egungun performances honor a comm...