GothamGallery Fine African Art - DRC Gabon Fang Ngil Judicial Tribal Mask

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GothamGallery Fine African Art - DRC Gabon Fang Ngil Judicial Tribal Mask:
$72.02

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Striking African DRC Gabon Fang Ngil Judicial Mask

Inches: Height: 29 Inches
Centimeters: Height: 74 Centimeters
Measurements Mask Only
Material: Wood, Pigment
Estimated Age: Mid 20th Century
Condition: Good
Remarks: Highly stylized mask elongated features white kaolin pigmented finished aged surface

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Documentation of Authenticity / Any Available Provenance Will Be Included With This Piece.

CONDITION
Wood deterioration, chips and scrapes, worn areas, age cracks, overall condition good. Thank you and please view my other items.

BACKGROUND
The Fang constitute a vast mosaic of village communities, established in a large zone of Atlantic equatorial Africa comprising Cameroon, continental Equatorial Guinea and nearly the whole north of Gabon. Historically the Fang were itinerant, and it is relatively recently that they have settled into this broad area. The Ngil masks are tied to the association of Ngil, which played judiciary and political roles among the Fang, assuring peace and hunting witches. These masks had the task of punishing those guilty of vices and criminals. The characteristics of the face do not express a composed serenity, but the deformation of anatomic characteristics reveals its superhuman character. This character is also reasserted by the use of white; for the Fang it is the color of death and of spirits. The accentuated vertical development of the mask is underlined by the long line of the nose. The calm expression of the Ngil, masks stands in striking contrast to the extremely frightening, threatening character of the masked performers who only performed at night in the light of torches. These masks were a part of paraphernalia of a hierarchically-structured male society which used them at initiation ceremonies and to pursue and punish sorcerers and offenders.

Painter Fred Uhlman words - Most of the artists I admired, Picasso, Modigliani, Deraini, to mention only a few, had collected African art and had been profoundly influenced by it. Shortly afterwards I bought the Baule Fetish and the Baule bobbin which are still two of the finest pieces in my collection. It is easy to see why I bought them and why from that moment I have never stopped collecting. The head of the bobbin or heddle - pulley which is after all only a functional object for the purpose of weaving seemed to me then and today as beautiful as a Greek goddess. The fetish moved me as deeply as the bobbin by its silent tragic dignity and its air of profound meditation.

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