SNK 1212-46 – SOLD

Ibo Ceremonial Mask with Janus Face Mask/head crest, Ibo/Igbo tribe, Nigeria

H: 53 cm (20,9″), W: 13,5 cm (5,3″), D: 15 cm (5,9″)

Two sided mask Janus image occur throughout Africa. They allude to the ability of masks to see hidden truths in this world and into the world beyond. They also combine male and female, whose complementary qualities, if merged, could obtain perfection. Multiple faces allude to the gods who are all-seeing.

The Igbo use thousands of masks, which incarnate spirits. The outstanding characteristic of the many Igbo masks is that they are painted chalk white, the colour of the spirit. Masked dancers wore extremely elaborate costumes. With their masks, the Igbo oppose beauty to bestiality, the feminine to the masculine, black to white.

Provenance: Private Danish collection. It was either acquired directly from Lau (Laurence) Sunde’s collection in Copenhagen, which dates back to the 1940s, or Lau (Laurence) Sunde was an adviser to the collector.
Sunde had a “Etnografica” boutique in 1948, that became recognized among collectors as the most specialized boutique of its kind at the time. Tribal and oriental artefacts were purchased from private collectors as well as at auctions in Paris, Amsterdam and London, among other places.

Full description of Lau (Laurence) Sunde will be forwarded by request.

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