Bamileke \"Night Society\" Mask, collected in the 1920s
![Bamileke \](img-large/g/kwcAAOSwxN5WUUMO/s-l1600/Bamileke-Night-Society-Mask-collected-in-the-1920s.jpg "Bamileke \")
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Bamileke \"Night Society\" Mask, collected in the 1920s:
$41.10
A powerfully expressive \"Night Society\" (Kwifon) mask from the Bamileke people of Cameroon. This mask is in an unusual, highly distinctive style typical of the Yemba subgroup of the Bamileke, where it is used in the rituals of the \"Night Society,\" an all-male group that is responsible for policing witchcraft and other forms of social disruption. This group\'s masks appear only at night -- hence the name -- and are feared for their great power. This example shows good age, with nicely oxidized wood, though it shows few signs of use. Regardless, it is beautifully made -- a wonderful example of the expressionistic carving for which Bamileke sculptors are famous. I bought the piece from a picker in Kansas City, who said that the people running the estate sale where he found it told him it had been collected by a missionary in the 1920s. Given the quality of the craftsmanship on this piece, I think that attribution is plausible. There are breaks to two of the horns that have been neatly repaired. The mask measures 14 inches tall, 9 inches across and 5 1/2 inches deep. The stand is for photography only, and is not included in the sale.About Me and My Selling Philosophy
I have been collecting African art for more than adecade. Over the years, my collectionhas gotten too large for the available space, and I\'ve discovered I get morepleasure selling things to others who appreciate them than keeping a growingpile of interesting stuff in the basement.
My inventory is carefully selected from the offerings ofgeneralist antique dealers, fellow collectors, estate re-sellers and \"pickers\" in the United States and Britain. Aside from afew rare exceptions (well-made contemporary masquerades, signed works of modernart, etc.), I do not buy pieces recently arrived from Africa, since my primaryinterest is in wooden masks and figures from the colonial period (1880-1960 orso). I understand the value ofprovenance to collectors in this field, and therefore always seek to provide asmuch information as possible about an object\'s previous ownership history.
Like anyone who regularly buys this kind of material throughthe internet, I get a dud from time to time, but that\'s on me. Each piece I choose to list here is, to myeye, aesthetically worthwhile -- either authentically used in-culture or, for example in thecase of some colonial pieces or objects with earlier collection dates, at leastinteresting and well-made. Each object,in other words, is something I would keep for myself if my house were biggerand my wife less opposed to clutter. Istrive to make my photographs as good as possible, in order to give buyersmaximum confidence in what I offer.
In terms of pricing, I do not want to keep listing piecesmonth after month at high prices in hopes they may one day sell, all the whilewatching them lose value as they go unsold. This means many buyers have received real bargains from me in the past. There are pieces I have sold on for a few hundred dollars that have turned up in European sales with estimates north of 2000 Euros. Given the number of bargains I\'ve found formyself in my own decade of collecting, I am happy to spread the good fortunearound! There are few other forms of artwhere one can get so much aesthetic power for such a small amount of money, andI enjoy helping pieces get to homes where they will be valued, even when thosehomes, like mine, have modest budgets.
The Rules
International buyers are welcome, but I require that they pay via Paypal.If payment is not received within 7 days, I will initiate a non-payment casewith and reserve the right to make a second-chance offer.
Bamileke \"Night Society\" Mask, collected in the 1920s:
$41.10