Mask - Nigeria (No reserve price)

This type of anthropo-zoomorphic bronze piece is generally attributed to ritual and court art of the Yoruba people (often associated with dignitary objects linked to the Oba) or to neighboring cultural regions such as the Benin Kingdom. Artistic details: One can observe a very beautiful patina aged by time, crowned with complex engraved motifs (notably scarifications or decorative spirals) typical of the expertise of West African master foundries. Frequent aesthetic confusion: Although its shape strikingly recalls the European design of the famous plague doctor mask (used from the XVIIth century in Europe to contain aromatics), it is a pure formal coincidence. Here, the bird’s beak symbolizes the link with the spiritual world, power, or attributes of animal strength inherent to the cosmological system.