- 26
MASQUE, GREBO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE |
Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 EUR
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Description
- wood and pigments
- haut. 37 cm ; 14 1/2 in
Masque, Grebo, Côte d'Ivoire
Provenance
Kungsholmens läroverk, Stockholm, vraisemblablement offert à cette école par une paroisse locale ou par la Royal Swedish Academy
Collection privée, Suède, acquis ca. 1967
Collection privée, Suède
Collection privée, Suède, acquis ca. 1967
Collection privée, Suède
Condition
Please contact the department : Pierre Mollfulleda pierre.mollfulleda@sothebys.com / 01 53 05 53 15
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Des yeux tubulaires, une fine arête nasale : ces signes plastiques (qui ont fortement frappé Picasso) permettent aisément d’identifier les masques dits « Grebo ». Pourtant il n’en existe pas deux identiques, ce dont témoigne cet important masque récemment sorti de l’ombre, lorsqu’on le compare à d’autres, célèbres, du MET, du musée Barbier-Mueller. De ce type précis, il reste peu d’exemplaires anciens, si l’on excepte, à l’ex-musée du Trocadéro (aujourd’hui au quai Branly), un masque du XIXe siècle, montré à l’Exposition Universelle de Paris en 1900. Le masque présenté ici, conservé jusqu’à la fin des années 1960 dans une école de Stockholm, rappelle les liens étroits autrefois tissés, en Suède, entre les entités réceptionnant les artefacts ethnographiques (paroisses locales et la Royal Swedish Academy of Science) et les structures d’enseignement auxquelles beaucoup ont été donnés.
Il porte à la perfection cet art minimaliste du schématisme volumétrique : les yeux cylindriques ont des tranches peintes de cercles au bleu de lessive (des trous de visée remplacent en-dessous l’absence d’évidement central) ; la bouche parallélépipédique est ornée de dents taillées en pointe (c’était le cas jadis pour les humains) ; le front saillant est modelé comme une proue (il comporte des similitudes avec les « corniches » des masques des Wè). La prolongation semi-ovale du menton confère ampleur et majesté (à l’encontre des coupes rectangulaires du masque du quai Branly). Autre singularité, plusieurs coloris orchestrés sans surenchère, avec une science du contraste et des échos visuels : deux bandes jaune clair disposées en T séparent les aplats de rouge et de noir et un zig-zag frontal reprend un type spécifique de scarifications (jadis après incision de la peau avec une aiguille, elles étaient bleuies à l’indigo). Sur les masques, ces couleurs étaient renouvelées avant chaque sortie : aussi, la polychromie magnifie le jeu des volumes, souligne les propriétés sculpturales. Les premières attributions, au musée du Trocadéro, usent de l’appellation : « masques de Sassandra ». Non qu’ils y fussent fabriqués ; mais ce havre à l’embouche de la Sassandra fut depuis sa découverte par les Portugais en 1471 jusqu’à 1960 le débouché des produits forestiers du Sud-Ouest ivoirien. C’est de là que les colons remportaient des masques comme souvenirs après leurs incursions vers l’intérieur. Dès lors il peut provenir de plusieurs ethnies qui relèvent du bloc linguistique Kru : Bakwe, Neyo, Grebo. Mais chez eux, ce masque n’intervenait jamais seul : avec cinq ou six autres, plus figuratifs ou animaliers, il présidait aux funérailles.
En rompant avec les formes habituelles, « réalistes », ou en ronde bosse, des autres masques, il a exercé sur son premier collecteur une immédiate séduction, que l’on retrouve, bien plus tard, merveilleusement intacte : les teintes rendent saisissants ses motifs géométriques et ses formes stylisées.
Commentaire par Alain-Michel Boyer (Historien de l'art, Mars 2018)
Tubular eyes and a thin nasal bridge: these visual elements (which strongly influenced Picasso) make it easy to identify the masks known as "Grebo". Yet no two pieces are identical - as evidenced by this recently discovered and important mask, when compared to other famous examples such as the mask held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York or at the Barbier-Mueller museum.
There are few ancient specimens of this type, except for the 19th century mask previously held in the former Trocadero Museum (and now in the musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac), which was exhibited at the 1900 Exposition universelle in Paris. This mask, preserved until the end of the 1960s in a school in Stockholm, recalls the close ties between institutions receiving ethnographic artifacts (local parishes and the Royal Swedish Academy of Science) and teaching establishments, many of which were given such pieces in Sweden.
This mask represents the epitome of the minimalist art of volumetric schematism: the cylindrical eyes contain slices painted with guimet blue circles (sighting holes replace the absence of central recess below); the parallelepipedic mouth is adorned with pointed teeth (in the past human teeth were also whittled into points); the projecting forehead is shaped like a prow (it can be likened to the “cornices” of We masks). The semi-oval extension of the chin imbue the face with magnitude and majesty (as opposed to the rectangular outlines of the Quai Branly mask). It displays another singularity: several colours orchestrated without excess, with great expertise in terms of contrast and visual echoes: two light yellow bands arranged in a T shape separate the red and black areas and a frontal zig-zag evokes a specific type of scarification (after the kin had been opened with a needle it was given a blue tint with indigo). On the masks, these colors were renewed every time they were taken out: the polychromatic decor magnified the interplay of the volumes, emphasizing the piece’s sculptural properties.
The first attributions of this type of mask made at the Trocadéro Museum use the terms “Sassandra Masks” not indicating that they were made there; but this harbour at the mouth of the Sassandra had been, since it was discovered by the Portuguese in 1471 and up until 1960, the outlet for forest products of South-Western Côte d’Ivoire. It was from this point that colonists took home masks as souvenirs after their incursions inland. Consequently it could have emanated from any of several ethnic groups that belong to the Kru linguistic bloc: Bakwe, Neyo, Grebo. For these peoples a mask never came out on its own; along with five or six others, carved in a more figurative or animal style, they would have presided over a funeral.
By breaking with the usual "realistic" rounded shapes common in other masks, this style exerted an immediate seduction over the first collectors, which can still be felt, many years later, in all its original intensity: its colours give its geometric patterns and stylized shapes a striking aspect.
Commentary by Alain-Michel Boyer (Art Historian, March 2018)
Il porte à la perfection cet art minimaliste du schématisme volumétrique : les yeux cylindriques ont des tranches peintes de cercles au bleu de lessive (des trous de visée remplacent en-dessous l’absence d’évidement central) ; la bouche parallélépipédique est ornée de dents taillées en pointe (c’était le cas jadis pour les humains) ; le front saillant est modelé comme une proue (il comporte des similitudes avec les « corniches » des masques des Wè). La prolongation semi-ovale du menton confère ampleur et majesté (à l’encontre des coupes rectangulaires du masque du quai Branly). Autre singularité, plusieurs coloris orchestrés sans surenchère, avec une science du contraste et des échos visuels : deux bandes jaune clair disposées en T séparent les aplats de rouge et de noir et un zig-zag frontal reprend un type spécifique de scarifications (jadis après incision de la peau avec une aiguille, elles étaient bleuies à l’indigo). Sur les masques, ces couleurs étaient renouvelées avant chaque sortie : aussi, la polychromie magnifie le jeu des volumes, souligne les propriétés sculpturales. Les premières attributions, au musée du Trocadéro, usent de l’appellation : « masques de Sassandra ». Non qu’ils y fussent fabriqués ; mais ce havre à l’embouche de la Sassandra fut depuis sa découverte par les Portugais en 1471 jusqu’à 1960 le débouché des produits forestiers du Sud-Ouest ivoirien. C’est de là que les colons remportaient des masques comme souvenirs après leurs incursions vers l’intérieur. Dès lors il peut provenir de plusieurs ethnies qui relèvent du bloc linguistique Kru : Bakwe, Neyo, Grebo. Mais chez eux, ce masque n’intervenait jamais seul : avec cinq ou six autres, plus figuratifs ou animaliers, il présidait aux funérailles.
En rompant avec les formes habituelles, « réalistes », ou en ronde bosse, des autres masques, il a exercé sur son premier collecteur une immédiate séduction, que l’on retrouve, bien plus tard, merveilleusement intacte : les teintes rendent saisissants ses motifs géométriques et ses formes stylisées.
Commentaire par Alain-Michel Boyer (Historien de l'art, Mars 2018)
Tubular eyes and a thin nasal bridge: these visual elements (which strongly influenced Picasso) make it easy to identify the masks known as "Grebo". Yet no two pieces are identical - as evidenced by this recently discovered and important mask, when compared to other famous examples such as the mask held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York or at the Barbier-Mueller museum.
There are few ancient specimens of this type, except for the 19th century mask previously held in the former Trocadero Museum (and now in the musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac), which was exhibited at the 1900 Exposition universelle in Paris. This mask, preserved until the end of the 1960s in a school in Stockholm, recalls the close ties between institutions receiving ethnographic artifacts (local parishes and the Royal Swedish Academy of Science) and teaching establishments, many of which were given such pieces in Sweden.
This mask represents the epitome of the minimalist art of volumetric schematism: the cylindrical eyes contain slices painted with guimet blue circles (sighting holes replace the absence of central recess below); the parallelepipedic mouth is adorned with pointed teeth (in the past human teeth were also whittled into points); the projecting forehead is shaped like a prow (it can be likened to the “cornices” of We masks). The semi-oval extension of the chin imbue the face with magnitude and majesty (as opposed to the rectangular outlines of the Quai Branly mask). It displays another singularity: several colours orchestrated without excess, with great expertise in terms of contrast and visual echoes: two light yellow bands arranged in a T shape separate the red and black areas and a frontal zig-zag evokes a specific type of scarification (after the kin had been opened with a needle it was given a blue tint with indigo). On the masks, these colors were renewed every time they were taken out: the polychromatic decor magnified the interplay of the volumes, emphasizing the piece’s sculptural properties.
The first attributions of this type of mask made at the Trocadéro Museum use the terms “Sassandra Masks” not indicating that they were made there; but this harbour at the mouth of the Sassandra had been, since it was discovered by the Portuguese in 1471 and up until 1960, the outlet for forest products of South-Western Côte d’Ivoire. It was from this point that colonists took home masks as souvenirs after their incursions inland. Consequently it could have emanated from any of several ethnic groups that belong to the Kru linguistic bloc: Bakwe, Neyo, Grebo. For these peoples a mask never came out on its own; along with five or six others, carved in a more figurative or animal style, they would have presided over a funeral.
By breaking with the usual "realistic" rounded shapes common in other masks, this style exerted an immediate seduction over the first collectors, which can still be felt, many years later, in all its original intensity: its colours give its geometric patterns and stylized shapes a striking aspect.
Commentary by Alain-Michel Boyer (Art Historian, March 2018)