Rom mask Ambrym Island banana fibre, cycas leaves, cock feathers, liana wood, pigments - image-1 Rom mask Ambrym Island banana fibre, cycas leaves, cock feathers, liana wood, pigments - image-2 Rom mask Ambrym Island banana fibre, cycas leaves, cock feathers, liana wood, pigments - image-3

Lot 66 D α

Rom mask Ambrym Island banana fibre, cycas leaves, cock feathers, liana wood, pigments

Auktion 1263 - Übersicht Brussels
26.02.2025, 14:00 - Art of Africa, The Pacific and the Americas
Schätzpreis: 3.000 € - 3.500 €
Ergebnis: 3.528 € (inkl. Aufgeld)
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Rom mask Ambrym Island
banana fibre, cycas leaves, cock feathers, liana wood, pigments
New Hebrides

83 cm

These impressive masks are worn by high initiates on the island of Ambrym.The right to wear this sacred mask carried high costs in Ambrym male secret society. Rom masks invoke the spirit of ancestors and are agents of social control. The masks and costumes must be destroyed or disposed of after a dance to ensure the spirit does not haunt the owner so few of these early masks have survived.

Provenienz

Italian Collection
Swiss collection

Literaturhinweise

Cf. The other chiefs mask from the same hand is in the Gandur collection, Geneve collection nr FGA-ETH-OC-0078