97 - SPIRITS AND GODS OF AFRICA

SPIRITS AND GODS OF AFRICA Nice, Marc Chagall National Museum of the Biblical Message, July 5–November 3, 1980. Paris, Ministry of Culture and Communication—Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1980. Square quarto, paperback with a color-illustrated cover. A richly illustrated catalog in black-and-white, featuring works from, among others, the Musée de l’Homme, the Musée des Arts Africains et Océaniens, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and the Museum Rietberg in Zurich. An important exhibition catalog devoted to representations of deities, spirits, ancestors, and supernatural forces in traditional African arts. The exhibition brings together a curated selection of sculptures and masks from various West African cultures: Mossi, Bambara, Senufo, Dogon, etc. The works are accompanied by detailed entries providing geographic provenance, materials, dimensions, acquisition history, previous exhibitions, and a bibliography. Among the pieces reproduced are, notably, Mossi Wango masks, Bambara Tyi Wara headdresses, a large Senufo ritual porpianong, Kpelié masks, a Senufo ointment container, and a Dogon shea butter box. The cover, which is particularly striking, features a gilded metal mask, giving the book a rather attractive appearance. Condition: good copy. Cover is slightly scuffed with small scratches and signs of wear; there is minor weakness/wear at the top of the spine, visible in the photograph. The back cover is slightly marked. Interior is fresh and clean, with no apparent notable defects.