{"product_id":"a-rare-benin-or-ife-leopard-mask","title":"A rare Benin- or Ife-leopard mask","description":"\u003cp\u003eA rare Benin- or Ife-leopard mask, In its form, construction, and technical conception, the present leopard mask displays remarkable parallels with a small group of masks from historical Ife, among which the so-called Obalufon mask occupies a particularly significant position. Frank Willett proposed that this mask may have been used in connection with royal funerary or commemorative rituals. Unlike the well-known cast heads from Ife, it was in fact conceived as a wearable mask: eye openings allowed the wearer to see, while numerous perforations apparently served to attach additional elements—headgear, a beard, costume, or other organic components.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA comparable functional logic may also have informed the present leopard mask. Loops and openings, together with its sculptural design oriented toward a frontal presentation, suggest that it too may originally have formed part of a more elaborate mask costume or ceremonial ensemble. In this case, the surviving metal object would represent only the durable core of what was originally a considerably more complex appearance incorporating metal, textiles, and possibly other organic materials.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf particular interest is the iconographic shift from the human to the animal countenance. This need not argue against a related ritual function. Rather, within a courtly ritual system, the leopard mask may have embodied a complementary manifestation of authority: while the anthropomorphic mask made present the personal or dynastic identity of a ruler or ancestor, the leopard may have visualized the superhuman, dangerous, and sovereign dimension of royal power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe striking structural similarities therefore permit the working hypothesis that anthropomorphic and zoomorphic metal masks may have fulfilled different roles within a related ceremonial context. Should metallurgical, technological, and chronological investigations confirm that the leopard mask originated within the cultural and artistic sphere of classical Ife metalworking, the object would represent a hitherto scarcely documented zoomorphic extension of the known mask repertoire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiven the extraordinary rarity of such a type, however, this attribution should at present be regarded as a hypothesis rather than as an established identification. It is precisely the combination of unusual iconography and functional parallels with the Obalufon mask that makes the object a particularly significant candidate for further technical, art-historical, and comparative investigation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe price is without the price for the TL analysis but can be done within four weeks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome of the information is generated by artificial intelligence and is based on published sources from the fields of ethnography, archaeology, and art history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInvt. No. MAZ22164\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 31 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 3.2 kg (incl. stand)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54744985141571,"sku":"MAZ22164","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/MAZ22164.jpg?v=1786885099","url":"https:\/\/wolfgang-jaenicke.com\/products\/a-rare-benin-or-ife-leopard-mask","provider":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","version":"1.0","type":"link"}