15.08.2009
Nepal Mask. Himalayan mask.Himalayan black crowned mask.
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15 Western Nepal primitive sculptures(Jumla, Dunai, and Simikot Regions ). 15 primitif sculptures de l'Ouest du Nepal. Statuaire Arcaique de l'Ouest du Nepal, see more on
http://ethnoflorence.skynetblogs.be/post/6958870/15-weste...
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21 Dhodro Banam, Santal Banam lutes see more on
http://ethnoflorence.skynetblogs.be/post/6109784/14-dhodr...
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Nepal folk art a lost world, see more on
http://ethnoflorence.skynetblogs.be/post/7177977/ethnoflo...
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Himalaya, land of the masks ... coming soon. Photo courtesy fbormanator http://www.flickr.com/photos/bormanator/2088188901/
HIMALAYAN BLACK CROWNED MASK.
Austere black crowned mask from the Himalayan region, despite the iconography of the item looks like it submits the influence of the southern area, the black dense patina and shiny reflective surface of the mask is something really unusual also for the northern area. The massive presence of genuine local restaurations on the surface of the item will the particullary devotion and the importance of the mask in its original context. It's possible to find a similar kind of patina in some African Fang reliquary heads or figure (Nlo Bieri). With a wide series of close-ups, in Ethnoflorence style, we'll put in evidence the different details of this interesting mask making also a comparasion with the patina of some Fang items.
![dyn006_original_320_240_pjpeg_2638188_576ed3766ca69f5ad1416f62e9ed6ba3[1]](http://static.skynetblogs.be/media/137887/dyn009_original_320_240_pjpeg_2638188_594fdc1d0fa0d75f759edf5cc28f88b0.jpg)
Himalayan mask frontal view detail.
![dyn006_original_240_320_pjpeg_2638188_e63d96eb5255fb246180a87b9bb89365[1]](http://static.skynetblogs.be/media/137887/dyn009_original_240_320_pjpeg_2638188_2708272ef4f4bc0bdd04dbb95fc8a0a4.jpg)
Comparasion with the patina of a Fang head, element from a reliquary ensemble. Fang peoples, Betsi group, Gabon, Mitzic region, Ndjolé. Musée d'Ethnographie, Neuchatel ETHNOFLORENCE photo archive . This particulary, important, and rare quality of patina derives from the fact that over the corse this artifact was used, the suface of the wood was completely impregned with applications of palm oil, in the present this beautifull piece of art continues to exude that substance.

Frontal view.

Crown detail view.

Forehead detail view.

Frontal view detail.

Central frontal view detail.

Below frontal view detail. Side A view. Restoration and sticky exceptional patina detail, traces of old NATURAL colors pigments. About the use to impregnate with oil masks or other artifacts in India the Bhuia Tribe (border line Madhyapradesh-Orissa) used a mask for ritual dances associated with the hunt profezia during annual holiday, the wood of this item was impregnated of oil.

Side A view detail. Restaurations and trace of red pigments.

Side A view detail.

Side A view detail.

Side A crown detail.

Side A below detail view.

Side B view.

Side B view detail.

Side B view detail.

Side B view detail.

Side B below detail view.

Side B below detail view.

Back side view.

Back side detail view.

Back side A view detail.

Back side B view detail.

Back side below view detail.

Back crown side view.

Crown detail view.

Crown detail view.

Top view.

Top view detail.

Top view detail.

Top view detail.

Top view detail.

For a patina comparaison see the pics below. Fang Reliquary Figure (Nlo Bieri), Gabon, Fang peoples 19 th century, wood metal. Ex coll. Derain, Jacob Epstein. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ethnoflorence Photo Archive.

This sculpture was used as the guardian for a sacred receptacle of ancestral relics. The surface of the figure glistens with ritually applied palm oil.
Before being removed from their original place such works were invariably separated from the relic containers they originally enhanched.
During the 1920s and 1930s artists and collectors of modern art were exposed to examples of Fang figurative representation and admired their daring abstraction of the human form. These qualities are evident in this authentic masterpiece, which is conceived as a series of autonomous units of volume integrated into a harmonious and idealized being.

This work has been an artistic landmark since it was first published in 1920 by Henry Clouzot and Andre Level. The figure was in the collection of both the fauve artists Andre Derain and the british sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein.

Fang Reliquary Head (Nlo Bieri), Gabon, Fang Peoples, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Ethnoflorence Photo Archive.
The formal features of this Fang reliquary sculpture powerfully influenced Modesrnist artists who began collecting Non-Western art during the early twentieth century.
This particular item was admired for its balanced symmetry and juxtaposition of straight lines and sinuous curves, became part of the collection of Sir Jacob Epstein in the 1920s.

The shiny reflective surface is the result of repeated applications of palm oil, a process also replicated on the surface of the bieri initiates bodies.
This kind of item were produced for the ancestor cult named bieri, like accessories that complemented a reliquary container. In this istance the generalized representation of the ancestors embodied by the sculpture has been separated from the specific individuals who were memorialized and addressed through their relics in times of need.
21:12 Écrit par ETHNOFLORENCE dans NEPAL MASKS NEPAL NEPALI NEPALESE HIMALAYAN MASKS | Lien permanent | Commentaires (0) | Envoyer cette note |
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