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Authentic or reproduction, that is the
question. Though African traditional art attracted the attention of Europeans in the late 19th century, it didn't become popular in the USA until the 1950's. Thirty to forty years later the supply of authentic pieces (natural colors, old, used for ritual, etc.) had dried up. Now they can be seen only in books and museums. Not surprisingly, an industry of tribal art reproductions has grown up and now sustains a large collector market, travelers, and other enthusiasts. These pieces look exactly like those in the books and museums. Value of a mask is based on locale, date, quality, and purpose. Was it made for ritual use within the culture, or only for sale? The former is called "authentic" and apt to be quite valuable. The latter is called "reproduction." Today the reproductions are much more common. Approximately 99% of all the African masks on the market are reproductions. Unfortunately most of the profits from these go to exporters, wholesalers and dealers-- not the people in Africa who carve them. Reproductions are fine as long as they are not sold as the real deal. I also worry about the scarcity of authentic contemporary masks-- this continuously evolving folk art that may be constructed with commercial materials and is almost always brightly colored. I'm told that dealers will sometimes antique the surface of authentic masks to mute the bright colors and make them look older. The following is an excerpt about reproductions in an article by Michael Yates.
Behind the Mask: Today, the market is flooded with fakes. Indeed, in 1987 John F. Povey, then editor of the journal African Arts, seemed to imply that one should be suspicious of just about any piece of so-called tribal art. Fakes are not just made to deceive; they are made primarily to take money away from the unwary. It used to be said that if a collector bought only from established and reputable dealers then there was less likelihood of buying a fake. And this can still be true today, although even the best dealers can be fooled. One collector expressed his feelings thus: And from my untrained eye, it would seem that if an "upper end" dealer has an item it is always "the real thing" but if you have it, it is always a fake. To me, a fake is simply something that has been made to deceive, or that is sold as something else. Or else, to quote Jan Vansina, they are “forgeries in the sense that they do not correspond to the indications of origin attributed to them”. Of course post-modernists will not be satisfied with these simple definitions and readers wishing to explore the subject of Africa art fakes should read Christopher B. Steiner’s book African Art in Transit (1994), which takes a look at the art scene in one West African state. Steiner gives several definitions of African art, from many sources, but he also includes the following telling passage: Most of the African traders divide the objects they sell into two broad categories: old and copy. If asked to analyze the terms further, most traders with whom I spoke said that all the objects in the market should in fact be referred to as copies. A more accurate way of classifying the types of art objects they sell is to draw a distinction between an older copy and a more recent one. Dramane Kabba (a trader) explained: At the beginning, there was only one of everything that you now see in the market place. When the Europeans came they took these things with them and put them in the museums and in the books. After that time, everything became a copy (of what was in the books). A copy can be a hundred years old or it can be only a few years old, but everything is a copy of those first objects which are now in the museums and in the books. Of course, one way to avoid fakes is to only seek out objects that carry known provenances. Though here also we have to be aware that past histories can also be faked! |