This is the rating and price for Baga Nimba (D'Mba) Wooden Headdress
Description : BAGA D'MBA HEADDRESS, Republic of Guinea.
The most important of the Baga art forms is the great mask, or Nimba. It represents the mother of fertility, protector of pregnant women, and presides over all agricultural ceremonies. The dancer, wearing a full raffia costume, carries the mask on his shoulders, looking out through holes between the breasts. In use, such masks rise more than eight feet above the ground, they often weigh more than eighty pounds. Most show a standardized pattern of facial scarification.
This large, voluptuous form is perhaps most famous for a related D'mba owned by Pablo Picasso, believed to have been the formal inspiration for his sculptural and painted portrayals of his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter.
The female bust resting on four straight legs, the majestic head hairstyle consists of a ridge, braids and herringbone, aquiline nose topped with a bow in the front, the small cylindrical mouth, eyes bulging , protruding ears, scars into small squares on the outline of the face, chest and neck, two eyes open between the breasts. Beautiful ritual patination, dark and crusty.
Measurements: 49-1/4 in height x 19 in width x 26-1/4 in length.
Appraisal will be included from the Late Lowell Collins from Texas. Lowell Collins was an artist, teacher, appraiser and specialist in pre-Columbian and African art. He opened a private school and art gallery that bear his name. He showed the work of young regional artists, but over the decades his name and gallery became synonymous with pre-Columbian and tribal art.
Collins' passion for the ancient art of Meso-America led to an appointment as honorary curator at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He donated many ancient artifacts to the museum and was an expert appraiser in the field and lectured extensively.
He mentions in the appraisal that the piece was ritually used and shows a nice ritual patination.
For similar examples, see: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979.206.17) The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA 1957.97) The African Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institute (98-28-1) Yale University Art Gallery (2006.51.390), and Musée Picasso, Paris, from the collection of Pablo Picasso
Art of The Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention by Frederick Lamp (Museum for African Art/Prestel).
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Estimate (low-high) : 250000 USD-350000 USDIt's free to register now to view!
