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Description

A Boki Headdress

Headdress Boki, Nigeria Mit Sockel / with base Wood, leather, rattan, hair. H 29 cm. Provenance: - 1988: Galerie Noir d'Ivoire, Yasmina Chenoufi & Réginald Groux, Paris. - Sandro Bocola (1931-2022), Zurich. Published: - Sandro Bocola. Texts and documents of his life and work. Self-published (2021). Page 296. - Elle Décoration, Assia Dridi "Shopping / L'Art Africain" A certificate (Certificat d'authenticité) from Réginald Groux will be given to the buyer. In his certificate Réginald Groux writes about this object: "Objet 19eme Siècle au plus tard. Style classique qui ne présente aucun signe de décadence ou d'influence étrangère à l'ethnie. ... Cet objet ne présente aucun manque, ni restauration. ... Cet objet est d'une rare qualité plastique et demeure dans un parfait état de conservation." ----------------------------------------------------- Sandro Bocola was interested in African art from a young age. He began collecting artifacts from this tribe when he bought his first Ekoi mask. The following text about the Ekoi is taken from the publication "Sandro Bocola. Texts and documents of his life and work" (self-published in 2021; pages 294 and 295). The skin-covered masks from the Cross River region of Nigeria and Cameroon are unique in that their design concept and technique are not known in any other part of the world. It is assumed that they spread from the Ekoi people, who number around 200,000 souls, to the other Cross River tribes (the Widekum, Egjaham, Bi-fanka and Anang), which are linguistically related to them, with each of these tribes creating their own type of mask. There has been much speculation about the origins of this practice, but there are some clues. The Ekoi were not only slave traders supplying European customers operating in the port city of Old Calibar, but were also headhunters who originally regarded and displayed their captured human heads as trophies. In his famous book In the Shadow of the Bush, published in 1912, Amaury Talbot, a British civil servant and anthropologist with many interests, who undertook several trips to research the Ekoi, reports how the natives performed a war dance in his honor, in which they presented the bleeding heads of their enemies, which had just been cut off and impaled on poles. Several museums also have masks in which the skulls of the decapitated enemies are covered with skin (see the specimen on display). Since this practice was banned by the colonial powers, wood-carved headdresses covered with antelope skin were used as dance masks. In rare cases, however, these were also covered with human skin. One such example can be found in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. The broad spectrum of these works is astonishing. In addition to human heads and those that combined human and animal features, skeletons of crocodiles or other animals were also covered with skin. The aesthetics and naturalistic design of these heads caused such a sensation that the Ekoi created a corresponding, also naturalistic, but general type of mask, which they sold in many variations to the European traders, explorers and travelers of Old Calibar. The famous example of this type in the Musee de l'Homme corresponded to Le Corbusier's design ideals, while the surreal, frightening and disturbing Ekoi masks probably did not interest him. Another highly unusual custom of the Ekoi is that after the death of important members of the tribe, their portrait is made as a naturalistically carved, skin-covered head with the hair of the deceased and used as a mask for dances. CHF 12 000 / 18 000 Weight in grams: 1358 Condition: The condition (wear, eventual cracks, tear, other imperfections and the effects of aging etc. if applicable) of this lot is as visible on the multiple photos we have uploaded for your documentation. Please feel free to contact Hammer Auktionen for all questions you might have regarding this lot ([email protected]). Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Hammer Auctions shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. In the rare event that the item did not conform to the lot description in the sale, Hammer Auktionen is here to help. Buyers may return the item for a full refund provided you notify Hammer Auktionen within 5 days of receiving the item. -------------------------------- The condition (possible wear and tear, signs of use, cracks, possible other damage and signs of age, etc.) of this lot can be seen in the photos we have provided for your documentation.

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A Boki Headdress

Estimate 12 000 - 18 000 CHF
Starting price 6 000 CHF

* Not including buyer’s premium.
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Sale fees: 26 %
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