GothamGallery Fine African Tribal Art Sierra Leone Mende Bundu Mask B

  
Welcome To The Premier Place For Serious Collectors of Fine Authentic African Tribal Art. Over 10 Years Online Serving Thousands of Satisfied Customers. Offering the Finest Quality Sub-Saharan African Art. African Sierra Leone Mende BunduTribal Mask. Inches: Height: 16.00 Inches Centimeters: Height: 41.00 Centimeters Measurement Mask Only Material: Wood Estimated Age: Early 20th Century Condition: Fair - Good Remarks: Stylized mask traditional Mende form dark patina aged surface. Documentation of Authenticity / Any Available Provenance Will Be Included With This Piece. CONDITION Wood deterioration, worn areas, chips and age cracks overall condition fair to good.

Thank you and please view my other items. BACKGROUND The Mende settled in Sierra Leone during the 16th century, having migrated from the north. Today, the Mende live mostly from rice and cocoa farming and are organized into different chiefdoms.

Social order and structure are regulated through the Poro male and the Sande female societies. During ceremonies associated with the latter, women wear Bundu masks which embody idealized female beauty and represent an ancestor of the society. These masks are typically of helmet hollow form with elaborate coiffure. The facial features are delicately carved with multiple folds on the neck area representing robustness of health and wealth. The surface of these mask are usually of blacken finish.

Painter Fred Uhlman words - Most of the artists I admired, Picasso, Modigliani, Deraini, to mention only a few, had collected African art and had been profoundly influenced by it. Shortly afterwards I bought the Baule Fetish and the Baule bobbin which are still two of the finest pieces in my collection. It is easy to see why I bought them and why from that moment I have never stopped collecting. The head of the bobbin or heddle - pulley which is after all only a functional object for the purpose of weaving seemed to me then and today as beautiful as a Greek goddess. The fetish moved me as deeply as the bobbin by its silent tragic dignity and its air of profound meditation.

GUARANTEE AUTHENTICITY AND CONDITION OF ITEMS ARE GUARANTEED TO THEIR DESCRIPTION AND PICTURES. PACKING FRAGILE ART ITEM NEEDS CAREFUL ATTENTION AND WILL NEVER BE FAST, BUT WE DO OUT BEST TO MAKE SURE IT WILL ARRIVE FOR YOU SAFELY. The item "GothamGallery Fine African Tribal Art Sierra Leone Mende Bundu Mask B" is in sale since Tuesday, June 14, 2011. This item is in the category "Antiques\Ethnographic\African\Other African Antiques". The seller is "gothamgallery" and is located in Brooklyn, New York.

This item can be shipped worldwide.