SWLNmask – by Filipa Gaspar
A 20th-century African mask was sold for more than 300 times its guide price – fetching over 100K.
The Kwele mask from Gabon was given a estimate of between £300 to £500 – but there was a “competitive” bidding with participants from all over the world.
The bidding which went on for some time was eventually won out by a French buyer – who purchased it for £107,100.
The 29.5cm high mask with almond shaped slit eyes and punched circle decoration, with white pigment and burnished highlights, was from the private collection of the late interior designer Eldred Trewvella ‘Bill’ Bennette.
The collection was one of several in auctioneer’s Woolley and Wallis Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas and Antiquities sale.
Commenting on the result, Will Hobbs, specialist at Woolley & Wallis, said: “We had bids from the UK, Belgium, France and USA, phone bids from UK and Paris, but it eventually won out to a French buyer.”
Several items at the sale on Wednesday exceeded expectations including a necklace from North East India which sold for £8,820 against an estimate of between £1,500 to £2,000.
Another mask from the same collection was a traditional carved wooden example created by the Baule people of the Ivory Coast region.
They often, like this one, feature realistic human faces and were used in festivals, each with a different meaning and sometimes symbolizing deities, spirits or ancestors.
This example featured a quintuple lobed coiffure, facial scarifications with black, red and white painted decoration. 35.5cm high it sold for £3,150 against an estimate of £300 and £500.
One of the other successful pieces was a 19th or 20th-century Thai stone Buddha head that sold for £2,772, well above its guide price of £100 to £200.
