Lot Essay
Peu de masques Teke anciens sont connus. Raoul Lehuard en dresse un inventaire dans son ouvrage 'Les Arts Bateke', AAN, 1996. Il reproduit bien sür le masque de l'ancienne collection Derain, aujourd'hui dans la collection Barbier- Mueller, et surtout le masque du Musée de Stockholm collecté vers 1910-1919 ; ce dernier est le masque qui se rapproche le plus de celui de la collection Bottet, leurs décors et leurs techniques de fabrication semblent très proches de style et d'époque. Trouvé à Nice par Bernard et Bertrand Bottet, ce masque appartient sans aucun doute à la très ancienne génération des masques Teke comme l'attestent sa facture et sa belle patine d'usage ; il est de l'époque où ces masques avaient un usage rituel sacré et non folklorique.
Very few Teke masks with age are known. Raoul Lehuard lists them in his book The Art of the Bateke, AAN, 1996. He illustrates, of course, the mask from the former collection of Derain, today in the Barbier-Mueller Collection, and above all the mask in the Stockholm Museum, collected around 1910-109; the latter is the mask which most resembles that of the Bottet Collection. The decoration and construction techniques seem to be very similar both in style and age. Found in Nice by Bernard and Bertrand Bottet, this mask belongs without doubt to this ancient group of Teke masks, as suggested by the original invoice and its fine patina. It dates from the period when these masks had a ritual rather than folkloric significance.
Very few Teke masks with age are known. Raoul Lehuard lists them in his book The Art of the Bateke, AAN, 1996. He illustrates, of course, the mask from the former collection of Derain, today in the Barbier-Mueller Collection, and above all the mask in the Stockholm Museum, collected around 1910-109; the latter is the mask which most resembles that of the Bottet Collection. The decoration and construction techniques seem to be very similar both in style and age. Found in Nice by Bernard and Bertrand Bottet, this mask belongs without doubt to this ancient group of Teke masks, as suggested by the original invoice and its fine patina. It dates from the period when these masks had a ritual rather than folkloric significance.