Staff crowning with four mask faces
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- Staff crowning with four mask faces
Lot: 395
Staff crowning with four mask faces
Angola, Chokwe
Provenance | Size | Starting price / estimated price |
---|---|---|
Erwin & Susanne Melchardt, Vienna, Austria | H: 8.1 inch | 5000 EUR / 10000 EUR |
wood, surface treated with wax / oil, base
Artfully carved head piece of a sceptre or dignitary staff "mbweci". Here in a rare version with four masked faces instead of just one head or Janus-shaped. Bastin commented on a staff crowning with five heads: "This sceptre may represent a chief's lineage" (Bastin, 1982, p. 192, fig. 112).
Bastin, Marie-Louise, La sculpture Tshokwe, Gossau 1982