Ethnic

Also known as Non-Western Art, the terms Ethnographic or Ethnic Art, Indiginous Art and Tribal Art are interchangeable and refer to art or artifacts created by indigenous people which includes North American Indians, pre-Columbian peoples of Mexico and Central and South America, and cultures or tribal peoples of Africa, Oceania and parts of Mecico and East, South and Southeast Asia. Art forms are generally masks, carved sculptures, paintings, textiles and jewelry which often are spiritual or religious representations.

Showing 1–12 of 27 results

  • Antique Dhokra Brass Measuring Bowl, India

    $155.00

    Dhokra items like this measuring bowl for rice or other grains are beautifully and often intricately decorated, very accessible, made with an appealing simplicity and in uncomplicated forceful and captivating forms. Made by the lost wax technique, each item has a distinct one-of-a-kind identity as the mold is broken after use so no copies can be made. This charming piece is a typical small grain measure with a rounded lip, bulging body, and handle for hanging and decorated with horizontal striations across the top half. It is bordered by a band of downward striated triangles with bosses at the tips, and a broad horizontal band at the center. It is in very good condition and has a smooth patina from prolonged use and considerable age.

     

    Click here for the Blog Hindu Home and Temple Shrines and Religious Practices

     

  • Antique Dhokra Brass Measuring Bowl, India

    $155.00

    This antique brass vessel was a daily measuring bowl for rice or other grains made by the Dhokra metalsmiths from Eastern India using lost wax casting which creates a unique and distinct identity and a one-of-a-kind object.  Dhokra items are beautifully and intricately decorated, very accessible, made with an appealing simplicity and their uncomplicated forms are forceful and captivating.  This charming one is a typical small grain measure with a round lip, bulging body, handle for hanging and decorated with horizontal striations across the top half bordered by a band of downward striated triangles and a broad horizontal band at the center. It is in very good condition with a smooth patina from prolonged use and its considerable age.

     

  • Antique Dhokra Brass Measuring Bowl, India

    $155.00

    Dhokra items like this measuring bowl for rice or other grains are beautifully and often intricately decorated, very accessible, made with an appealing simplicity and in uncomplicated forceful and captivating forms. Made by the lost wax technique, each item has a distinct one-of-a-kind identity as the mold is broken after use so no copies can be made. This charming piece is a typical small grain measure with a rounded lip, bulging body and handle for hanging. It is decorated with horizontal striations across the body and small and large raised zig-zag horizontal bands at the top and underneath are crossing bands with signs of verdigris. It is in very good condition with a smooth patina from prolonged use and its considerable age with a slight loss above the handle.

    Click here for the Blog Dhokra Metal Smiths: Retaining Primitive Techniques with Unfailing Success 

    Click here for the Blog Hindu Home and Temple Shrines and Religious Practices

     

  • Antique Dhorka Brass Measuring Bowl, India

    $155.00

    Dhokra items like this measuring bowl for rice or other grains are beautifully and often intricately decorated, very accessible, made with an appealing simplicity and in uncomplicated forceful and captivating forms. Made by the lost wax technique, each item has a distinct one-of-a-kind identity as the mold is broken after use so no copies can be made.  This charming piece is a typical small grain measure, with a rounded lip, bulging body, and handle for hanging and decorated with horizontal striations across the top half bordered by a band of downward striated triangles, and a broad horizontal band at the center. It is in very good condition with a smooth patina from prolonged use and its considerable age.

     

  • Antique Nuo Opera Female Mask, China

    $395.00

    This antique hand-carved Nuo Opera mask from Southern China of a smiling woman with a slender face, delicate features and hair in a topknot portrays a zhengshen, a friendly female deity (shen) with a kind and honest nature and a gentle disposition. She is a symbol of the power of good capable of defeating evil. Most Nuo masks are brightly painted, but the age and heavy use of this one has resulted in paint losses. Different colored bases under the reddish-brown indicate it was repainted long ago and reused more than once. The bright red lips have faded and areas around the eyes, mouth, nose and hair reveal what may be an original first layer of white gesso. Mask enthusiasts will appreciate the resulting paint and lacquer layers which tell the story of this Nuo mask’s colorful history, and, yes, the pun is intended. It is in verygood condition for its age and use and for its journey surviving China’s modernization.

  • Antique Ox Cart with Chinthe Temple Lion, Burma/Myanmar

    $325.00

    Finely carved figures were attached to ox cart yokes to protect farmers from malevolent spirits who inhabited all seen and unseen sectors of their environment. This beautifully carved ox cart yolk was created in the image of a singha, (Sanskrit word for lion) a mythical lion-like creature commonly represented in Thailand and Burma to decorate a multiplicity of everyday items. Considered a propitious spiritual and protective guardian figure, the singha is the king of the jungle symbolizing power, courage, strength, leadership, loyalty, perseverance, and endurance. This carving displays the common characteristics of singhas with a long face with large eyes, a long sharp nose, a long draping lion-like beard, and a flame-like shape on the top of his head. He stands on all four legs holding his beard that extends from his open roaring mouth with sharply pointed teeth that combine elegance with strong beast-like strength. He is masterfully carved with careful attention to details like the deeply incised hairs that cover his body. For functional reasons, the piece is in two parts held together with a wooden plug. Even though it was for daily use, Burmese craftsmen created beautiful objects and finished them with the best materials they could afford. This piece was originally covered with lacquer, most of which has faded with use over time.  It is in good condition with losses to his left side, fading surface, and wear consistent with its age and use.

  • Antique/Vintage Mask of a Comical Character, Bali

    $395.00

    The third eye on this Topeng Bondres is ironic, as it depicts a very odd clown-like, personality. Very well-carved, he has uneven bloodshot eyes, an almost hairless head, angular bony eye-sockets and a recessed face with black age lines on each side of a puny nose. The protruding red lips, open mouth with two teeth and mustache are not balanced and describe a weirdo demanding attention. He is a strange and wacky Balinese jokester who evokes laughter and is exactly what the Balinese love: a abnormal slapstick clown with physical oddities. Personally collected in Bali in the 1970s, this piece is in excellent condition for its age and use with expected minor paint losses and scrapes.

  • Antique/Vintage Rangda Mask on Museum Stand, Bali

    $875.00

    A traditional figure central and essential to Balinese culture and lore, Rangda is the widow demon-queen ruling an army of witches practicing black magic. Frightening and threatening, she has two upper fangs, two lower fangs now lost, scary teeth, jagged elements surrounding her head, large bulging eyes, open nostrils and is painted red symbolizing one easy to anger and threatening. In very good condition considering its age and use, it has expected paint losses, scratches and a fine patina. Personally collected in the 1970s, she is mounted on a museum-quality metal stand.

     

  • Rare Vintage Jauk Mask, Lombok

    $395.00

    This finely carved vintage mask is called a Jauk manis mask. It represents the more gentle traits of a giant with human traits, normal features and a smile, and its white color is usually symbolic of purity. It can also be colored reddish or orange symbolizing an individual easy to anger. Collected in the 1970s in Lombok, this mask is rare as Lombok at that time had few tourists and the Balinese community of carvers living there generally did not sell their masks. It has a fine aged patina, hairline cracks and frayed eyebrows consistent with its age and use.

  • Rare Vintage Timor Mask Featured in Spiderman Movie

    $1,150.00

    This large rare vintage Timor ancestor mask with huge eyes, a horsehair beard, an inverted curved U-shaped mouth and two small half-circle ears is an ancestral carving having the powerful resolve to protect living relatives. This is in excellent condition considering its age, storage and use, has a black patina and comes with a museum-quality metal stand. This mask is one of 3 of our masks featured in the original 2002 Spiderman movie pictured on the wall in the collection of Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin.

     

  • Vintage Ancestor Dyak Mask Museum Stand, Kalimantan

    $675.00

    This vintage Dyak hudoq mask from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) had been influenced by Javanese masks. It is a single wood piece with small eyes, straight instead of a triangular or bulbous nose with open nostrils, the ears are a small and round and not a separate, large wing-like attached wood piece and the mouth is tiny and without scary teeth. Collected personally in Bali in the 1970s, it comes with a museum-quality metal stand, is in very good condition with a nice patina, surface scratches and pigment losses consistent with its age and use.

     

  • Vintage Ancestor/Shaman Mask, Nepal

    $435.00

    This Middle Hills hardwood mask from Eastern Nepal may be a local deity, ancestor or shaman mask. Its deep eye-sockets and pierced eyes stare at the viewer over a triangular nose above a lipless mouth with small gnashed teeth in a potent expression. Its forehead recedes to a crown with decorative Xs, vertical lines and triangular motifs. Shaped as a V with a flat chin, it is carved with geometric shapes and has a strong presence. Having a layered patina ranging from brown to the black seen in other antique masks, folk masks like this are being reproduced in Nepal but those with age are very difficult to find.

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