Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries


Visitors' Forum

Asian Art  Forums - Reply Message
Asian Art Forums

Message Listing by Date:
Message Index | Back | Post a New Message | Search | Private Mail | FAQ
Subject:Metal mask from Vietnam for identification
Posted By: Michał Szymański Sun, Sep 10, 2017 IP: 31.0.124.236

Some time ago we bought mask in Vietnam (Hanoi) in antique shop. Because seller knew only few words in Eglish she could not explain what we are buying. She told us (what is hard for us to verify) that this item is around 150 years old.

My question are:
- what is it? How was it used?
- where was it produce? Was it produced in Vietnam?
- when was it produced?

More pictures you can find here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68VuZDaIVt5WlBSbFdTdThiemc







Subject:Re: Metal mask from Vietnam for identification
Posted By: Stan Mon, Sep 11, 2017

I'm going to say that it is African, possibly from Ghana. See pinterest link below.

Cheers,
Stan

URL Title :African Bird Masks


Subject:Re: Metal mask from Vietnam for identification
Posted By: Endre Tue, Sep 12, 2017

Looks like Chinese Zhou dynasty bronze work. Maybe a ritual mask.

Subject:Re: Metal mask from Vietnam for identification
Posted By: Endre Tue, Sep 12, 2017

I believe it is a Taotie mask from China. The very high quality of the cast, the geometric pattern covering the piece, the bird beak mouth, and raised eyebrows are what leads me to believe this. I also have not seen any African masks available to the public in Vietnam. I cannot give any idea of age. Very nice

Post a Reply
Name:
Email:
Group: South & SE Asia
Subject:
Message:
Link URL:
Enter here the complete URL of any site, page or image you would like to show other visitors.
URL Title:
Enter here the title of the link you've given above. This will appear to the visitor. Eg., if you are linking another picture, enter "Another picture". The link will not appear without a title.
Image URL:
Enter here the URL of an image if it is already uploaded on the web. The image will appear with your posting. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post.
Image: You may upload up to three images. If you would like to upload more images to this message please do so by replying to this same message.

Please make sure the file type is JPEG or GIF and the filename does not contain spaces.





Use the Browse button to find an image (jpg or gif) on a local drive on your computer to upload for including with your message. Do not upload images with file names containing spaces. Please do not upload files larger than 500 KB in size. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post. Check the "email notification" box below if you would like to be notified of any responses to your message.
Check here for email notification.
Security Code: Security Image: please enter the text appears in this image.

Please type in the code you see in the image directly above this input box.

Subject:Re: Metal mask from Vietnam for identification
Posted By: Michał Wed, Sep 13, 2017

well I expected it is 50 maybe 150 years old but from your suggestion it can be very old. I am very supprised.
I've looked on Taotie mask and there are many similarities with my mask but as I understand Taotie was used in the Shang and Zhou dynasty (almost 3000 years ago). Was this motifs used in later times?

Subject:Re: Metal mask from Vietnam for identification
Posted By: Endre Thu, Sep 14, 2017

Im not the one to date it. But, there is quite a bit of info about the Bronze Age of China, as you know. The patina does look a little different than the very very old ones, but I haven't looked at a whole lot of examples. I'm sure you could find a similar one made 200 or 100 years ago or even just yesterday. Definitely worth a closer look!


Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |