Daniel Hourdé

Malagan mask, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

Reduced VAT applies to hammer price and buyer's premiumRestricted Species

Estimate

25,000 - 35,000 EUR

Lot Details

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Description

Malagan Mask, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

Height: 18 ⅛ in., Width: 10 ¼ in., Depth: 9 ½ in. ; Haut. 46 cm, Larg. 26 cm, Prof. 24 cm.

L’importation de ces lots aux U.S. peut être interdite ou peut nécessiter des licences et des certificats délivrés par les organismes compétents (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) pour être exportés et des licences et certificats supplémentaires pour être importés. Le U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service se reserve le droit de bloquer l’exportation sur le territoire des U.S. L'impossibilité pour un acheteur d'exporter ou d'importer ces lots, ou une saisie par un organisme gouvernemental, ne peut justifier un retard de paiement ou l'annulation d'une vente. Importation of these lots into the U.S. may be prohibited or may require licenses and certificates issued by the appropriate agencies (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) to be exported and additional licenses and certificates to be imported. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reserves the right to block export into the US. Fish and Wild Life reserves the right to block export to the U.S. The inability of a buyer to export or import these lots, or a confiscation by a government agency, cannot justify a delay in payment or the cancellation of a sale.

Patricia Withofs (1934-1998), London

Galerie Monbrison, Paris

Daniel Hourdé Collection, Paris, acquired from the above in 2022

Nicolas Garnier, Motifs d'Océanie, Paris, Hazan, 2011, n° 560, p. 387 (reprod. dessin aquarellé)

By Jean-Philippe Beaulieu

This powerful Malagan mask, carved in wood and painted, belongs to a type known as Matua or Vanis. Originally, it would have featured two large sculpted wooden ears, inserted into the lateral openings. Its creation abided by the same strict corpus of rules as Malagan statues, yet it could be used ritually on many different occasions. The mask played a crucial role: moving through the village in a hieratic manner, it lifted Taboos and marked the opening of the final stage of a Malagan ceremony, before being placed on a stand within the ritual enclosure. It is a beautiful exemplar, showcasing the creativity and talent of nineteenth-century New Ireland sculptors. The mask is topped by a large, powerful head with an aquiline nose and a wide mouth, with two pig tusks projecting from it. In front of the mouth is a spiny lobster, its tail seized by a fish, whose protruding jaw connects with the long beak of a bird, with a massive body that is camped atop the head.

Crabs, lobsters or mantis shrimp are elements that are sometimes found in the art of New Ireland. One such instance is a mask collected in 1891 with a spiny lobster emerging from its mouth, held in the Natural History Museum in New York (ST-2202), which features comparable iconography. Birds of the same type can also be seen on various Malagan masks or statues (Berlin VI 2865; Göttingen Oz 1866; see also the ears of the masks collected by Richard Parkinson and published by Meyer in 1900, plate XII, objects 6 and 7). This mask stands as an ambassador of the virtuosity and creativity of nineteenth-century New Ireland artists.

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