LOT 648 Benin Bronze Altar Head
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20th century AD. A bronze altar head with conical base and finely-modelled facial features, braided hair above; the forehead with two open slots and vertical raised ichi scars; the top of the head open to accept a carved ivory tusk; the neck with integral stylised neck-rings. See Barley, N. The Art of Benin, London, 2010 for much information. 4.1 kg, 29 cm (11 1/2"). Property of a Kent collector; formerly UK private collection, acquired in the 1950s. The tradition of casting bronze life-size heads dates back several centuries in West Africa, where such objects formed part of religious and state ceremonial. Examples were brought to Europe following a punitive expedition by the British in 1897, and caused a sensation in the art world. This casting is believed to have been made soon after production of such cultural artefacts resumed at the close of the First World War, probably in the early 1920s. [No Reserve] Fine condition.
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