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a close up of a wooden mask with a black backgroundan image of a wooden mask on a stand against a black backgrounda close up of a wooden mask on a stand on a black backgrounda close up of a wooden mask on a black backgrounda close up of a wooden mask on a stand on a black background
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117 - FANG Fang Ngontang mask.
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Estimate €800 - €1,200
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Description
FANG Fang Ngontang mask. 20th century. Height: 27 cm. An IR spectroscopy dating certificate (G. Matthaes patent) from the Museo d’Arte e Scienza, Milan, no. 6AF-3727, indicates a date of 1937 ± 8 years. Light wood with a crusty patina of white kaolin. The inside of the mask bears traces of carving with a adze. Two holes on the sides were used to thread the fastening cord. The moustache, as well as the black decorative motifs surrounding the mask, are carved in slight relief. Provenance: Pierre Redouin Collection. Bibliography: Published in *Le Souffle des Esprits*, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, Pierre & Hadrien Redouin, 2012, p. 81. Description: In the Fang language, the term *ngon ntang* means ‘the young white woman’. For some, this mask evokes the image of a white mermaid emerging from the sea, much like those white people who, upon disembarking from their ships, could—because of their skin colour—only have come from the distant village of the ancestors. This mask features a moustache that is certainly intriguing (a humorous nod to the moustache of a soldier or a white settler? Or perhaps a reference to the elephant hair that local women, in their vanity, would sometimes insert into their nostrils?).
See original version (French)
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About the sale The Breath of the Spirits: The Collection of Pierre Redouin and Others
Auction location
Auction time 09/24/2026 at 2:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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