Vanuatu Headdress, ca. 1925
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GUEST:
I acquired this piece as one piece of a large collection. What I learned is that this piece started in a museum in Africa, made its way to the United States in the collection of Eddie Albert, of Green Acres fame, then went to a museum in Pasadena, California. Following, it was auctioned, and it came to me subsequent to that.
APPRAISER:
And so do you know what you paid for it?
GUEST:
Probably $500 or $750 range as a part of the collection.
APPRAISER:
Okay, you told me you did have a personal relationship with this piece, and in fact it now has a name in your family, doesn't it?
GUEST:
This is Doug, because on Green Acres, Eddie Albert's character was Mr. Douglas. So this is Doug.
APPRAISER:
So where in Africa do you think it's from?
GUEST:
I have no idea. I know Green Acres was not in Africa, so I don't know... I don't know where it came from.
APPRAISER:
But you think somewhere in Africa.
GUEST:
That's what I was told. It came out of an African museum.
APPRAISER:
Okay. What they told you is not correct.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
This comes from a location east of Australia, what we used to call New Hebrides, which is now called Vanuatu. And this came from the second-largest island in that group of islands, called Malekula.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And this is a dance costume from that area.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
That's a shocker, isn't it?
GUEST:
Yeah, I was told it was from Africa, so I have no idea.
APPRAISER:
This conical element here is probably missing the feathers at the top. We have this outer coating. It appears to be a natural fiber. There are some people that consider this to be a spider web from that area. That's something that needs a little bit more research. What we see down here are the boars' tusks, and this element here is clay, and it's painted. And look at the difference in the blue here and the blue there. It's not uncommon that these masks would be continually renovated. This is a real piece, this is a dance costume that was made to be danced by those people, and not made for sale. Now, these dance masks from Malekula are actually still being danced. So this piece definitely would have been made in the 20th century, although I think this would be pre-1950, but I do believe it is in the 20th century.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
You did pretty well for your $500. This is a $3,500 to $4,500 piece at a good auction or gallery.
GUEST:
Oh, wow, okay.
Appraisal Details
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