FANG MASK, EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Adriana and Robert Mnuchin, New York
Pace Primitive and Ancient Art, New York (invoice no. "2037")
Acquired by the present owner from the above on February 11, 1983

Arts d'Afrique Noire, No. 46, 1983, p. 47 (Pace Primitive advertisement)

Good condition for an object of this type and age. Scattered insect damage throughout. Age cracks with old metal brackets (native repair) on top. A surface age crack below the nose, not extending through to the reverse, with an old nail (native repair), now covered over with pigment, as seen in photographs. Dents, marks, nicks, scratches and abrasions throughout, consistent with age and use. Sections on sides of face with evidence of a previous layer of black pigment, now covered in white; this repigmentation probably done in situ. White pigment crusty with some areas possibly consolidated. The number "405" painted in red on reverse. A small white sticker with the number "3686" on reverse.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Fang sculpture in general, and Fang masks in particular were at the core of Picasso's interest in African art during and after the creation of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907). William Rubin (1984: 290) notes: "Two characteristics of Picasso's 1907 painting that persisted into 1908 - blocky symmetrical torsos and concave faces - have a decided kinship with tribal art.  Physiognomies that combine a wide convex forehead and a long, tapering, concave lower face, such as we see in Woman's Head of early 1908, descend from the upper right-hand head in the Demoiselles, and also unquestionably answer to Fang sculpture. As a source of vanguard interest in the prewar years, Fang sculpture compares in importance with Kota reliquary figures. Fang masks were owned by Picasso, Braque, Derain, and other artists [...]. Fang-inspired concave facial types continue in Picasso's work well into 1908, as shown in the Sudy of Friendship, indeed, right into Three Women, whose repainted version of the following winter would mark the end of Picasso's "Africanism."

The offered lot is accompanied by a letter of expertise by the noted scholar Leon Siroto, dated February 16, 1983, according to which this "kind of mask appears to be characteristic of the region of the Bimbili river in east-central Equatorial Guinea.  The style probably extends over the border into adjacent Gabon, roughly between the towns of Alen and Mongomo.  The mask's features suggest stylistic affinities with the small 'arm-masks' of the same region.  The region seems to be peopled mainly by the Ntumu group of the Fang. 

"A precise typology of Fang masks has not yet been presented.  The correspondence of this mask with the maskoids worn on the arms of the dancers might suggest that it, too, figured in dances given at least partly for public entertainment.  The Fang are known to have very many secular dances that employ masks of different local names.

"Although this mask is quintessentially Fang in its style, very few similar examples have appeared in the literature so far.  (I might add that I find no reason to associate masks such as this with the Ngi[l] cult, as is often asserted.)"

For a closely related mask cf. Christie's New York, May 18, 1993, lot 78.