Log in or Sign up
Antiques Board
Home
Forums
>
Antique Forums
>
Tribal Art
>
Any info on this African wall mask
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="2manybooks, post: 4570868, member: 8267"]As Any Jewelry says, it is not a traditional form, which makes it difficult to attribute it to any particular place. My best guess is that it is from one of the workshops in Ghana.</p><p><br /></p><p>The faceless, abstracted figure on the top seems to be a pan tourist art phenomenon, occurring in Indonesian carvings, East African kisii stone carvings, and West African wood carvings such as this one from Ghana, for sale on Novica:</p><p><img src="https://images1.novica.net/pictures/5/p277694_2_400.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><a href="https://www.novica.com/p/hand-carved-wood-sculpture-of-family-from/277694/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.novica.com/p/hand-carved-wood-sculpture-of-family-from/277694/" rel="nofollow">https://www.novica.com/p/hand-carved-wood-sculpture-of-family-from/277694/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The exaggerated, happy face of your mask seems to be following a tradition, all with the hooded eyes, the striped treatment of the eyebrows, and sometimes with shell/ivory insets. Most of the ones I have found do not have reliable attributions, although the most recent version (on Overstock) is said to be from Ghana:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/384435773351" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/384435773351" rel="nofollow">https://www.ebay.com/itm/384435773351</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/224532535727" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/224532535727" rel="nofollow">https://www.ebay.com/itm/224532535727</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Handmade-Laughing-Happily-African-Ebony-Wood-Mask-Ghana/25571685/product.html?option=42721394" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Handmade-Laughing-Happily-African-Ebony-Wood-Mask-Ghana/25571685/product.html?option=42721394" rel="nofollow">https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Handmade-Laughing-Happily-African-Ebony-Wood-Mask-Ghana/25571685/product.html?option=42721394</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Many of the modern Ghanaian carvings are described as being made of "sese" wood, and show the same red color as the face of your mask.</p><p><a href="https://uniquelyglobal.net/products/africa-outlining-safari-animals-carved-from-native-sese-wood" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://uniquelyglobal.net/products/africa-outlining-safari-animals-carved-from-native-sese-wood" rel="nofollow">https://uniquelyglobal.net/products/africa-outlining-safari-animals-carved-from-native-sese-wood</a></p><p>I have not been able to pin down a proper botanical identification of sese wood yet.</p><p><br /></p><p>Addendum - sese wood may be Holarrhena floribunda. "In 2019 Ghana exported....finished carved products and sculptures of <i>H. floribunda</i> species for €976,430.88."</p><p><a href="https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPS/article-full-text/AF54F5D68966" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPS/article-full-text/AF54F5D68966" rel="nofollow">https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPS/article-full-text/AF54F5D68966</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="2manybooks, post: 4570868, member: 8267"]As Any Jewelry says, it is not a traditional form, which makes it difficult to attribute it to any particular place. My best guess is that it is from one of the workshops in Ghana. The faceless, abstracted figure on the top seems to be a pan tourist art phenomenon, occurring in Indonesian carvings, East African kisii stone carvings, and West African wood carvings such as this one from Ghana, for sale on Novica: [IMG]https://images1.novica.net/pictures/5/p277694_2_400.jpg[/IMG] [URL]https://www.novica.com/p/hand-carved-wood-sculpture-of-family-from/277694/[/URL] The exaggerated, happy face of your mask seems to be following a tradition, all with the hooded eyes, the striped treatment of the eyebrows, and sometimes with shell/ivory insets. Most of the ones I have found do not have reliable attributions, although the most recent version (on Overstock) is said to be from Ghana: [URL]https://www.ebay.com/itm/384435773351[/URL] [URL]https://www.ebay.com/itm/224532535727[/URL] [URL]https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Handmade-Laughing-Happily-African-Ebony-Wood-Mask-Ghana/25571685/product.html?option=42721394[/URL] Many of the modern Ghanaian carvings are described as being made of "sese" wood, and show the same red color as the face of your mask. [URL]https://uniquelyglobal.net/products/africa-outlining-safari-animals-carved-from-native-sese-wood[/URL] I have not been able to pin down a proper botanical identification of sese wood yet. Addendum - sese wood may be Holarrhena floribunda. "In 2019 Ghana exported....finished carved products and sculptures of [I]H. floribunda[/I] species for €976,430.88." [URL]https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPS/article-full-text/AF54F5D68966[/URL][/QUOTE]
Your name or email address:
Do you already have an account?
No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?
Stay logged in
Antiques Board
Home
Forums
>
Antique Forums
>
Tribal Art
>
Any info on this African wall mask
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Registered Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...