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African Dan Complex tribal mask from Liberia a

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:3,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
African Dan Complex tribal mask from Liberia a
African Dan Complex tribal mask from Liberia and Cote D'Ivoire, ceremonial dance mask, or runner's mask, 19th Century. Real human hair and shells for teeth. Masks among the Dan people functioned on many different levels. They would entertain, teach correct behavior, and even serve as judicial agents during disputes and criminal sentencing. It is believed that when worn, the spirit that inhabits the mask would overcome the performer; therefore the actions would be that of the spirit. Because Dan masking is particularly complex, it is almost entirely unknown what functions each mask performed when they are removed from their originally setting. Provenance: Private collection collected between 1910 and 1930. Estimated more than 100 yrs old. African art is a term typically used for the art of Sub-Saharan Africa. A few of the most popular traditional African art was produced by the tribal people of the Fang, Dan, Baoule, Dogon, Senoufo, Makonde, Bambara, and San. Most African sculpture was historically in wood and other natural materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago; older pottery figures can be found from a number of areas. Masks are important elements in the art of many peoples, along with human figures, often highly stylized and in vast variety of styles. Sculpture is most common among "groups of settled cultivators in the areas drained by the Niger and Congo rivers. Direct images of deities are relatively infrequent, but masks in particular were made for religious ceremonies. Later West African cultures developed bronze casting for reliefs, like the Benin Bronzes, to decorate palaces and for highly naturalistic royal heads from around the Yoruba town of Ife, in terracotta as well as metal, from the 12th to 14th centuries. Akan gold weights are a form of small metal sculptures produced over the period 1400–1900; some apparently represent proverbs, contributing a narrative element rare in African sculpture; and royal regalia included impressive gold sculptured elements. Many West African figures are used in religious rituals and are often coated with materials placed on them for ceremonial offerings. Eastern Africans, in many areas shorter of large timber to carve, are known for Tinga Tinga paintings and Makonde sculptures. There is also tradition of producing textile art. Modern Zimbabwean sculptors in soapstone have achieved considerable international success. Southern Africa's oldest known clay figures date from 400 to 600 AD and have cylindrical heads with a mixture of human and animal features. (Wikipedia) Size: See Ruler Photo. (Photos Represent The Condition Of The Lot.)