LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June African & Oceanic Art Auction #645  / 

48217

Babanki (Cameroon)Lintel from a Palace Building

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Ethnographic Start Price:4,500.00 USD Estimated At:9,000.00 - 11,000.00 USD
Babanki (Cameroon)Lintel from a Palace Building
<B>Babanki (Cameroon)</B></I><BR>Lintel from a Palace Building<BR>Hardwood, patina<BR>Lengh: 113 ¼ inches Width: 7 inches Depth: 7 ¾ inches<BR><BR>The architectural function as a lintel has dictated the long rectangle format, with motifs set with high ridges on the long sides. The following motifs are seen in very high relief: elephant heads (or masks), bush buffalo heads (or masks), human figures, snakes, and spiders.<BR><BR>Tamara Northern has defined the motifs in royal contexts. "The elephant, renowned for might and majesty, also offers qualities for royal adoption. It is good to think with in a hierarchical context. Kings are referred to and addressed as 'elephants' and 'elephant hunters' - honorifics - in speech and recitations" (Tamara Northern. <I>The Art of Cameroon.</B></I> Washington: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services, 1984, p.46). "The buffalo is a royal referent animal whose metaphoric articulation does not have parity in the cultural matrix with that of the leopard and the elephant. As another large game animal, its massive physique recommends association with power" (Northern, <I>loc. cit.</B></I>).<BR><BR>"The two animal icons most ubiquitous in prestige are the spider and the frog or toad. The earth spider serves as the divination animal throughout the Grassfields and its perimeters…(Due to various of its behavioral habits) the spider has…been interpreted as an animal of wisdom" (Northern <I>op. cit.,</B></I> p.49).<BR><BR>A very old piece, this lintel has a fine patina<BR><BR>Provenance: Collection of Irène Drivet<BR>H. Bruce Greene II and family, Naples, Florida<BR><BR><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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