Gondwana region, India. Boldly carved with two rows of six vertical panels depicting deities, mythical beasts, and scenes of everyday life. Each panel within a patterned frame with round metal fittings on each corner. The door is set with two iron hinges and an iron chain fastener on both sides.

Provenance: British private collection. Gordon Reece Gallery, London, circa 2000. The collection of A. John Lippitt, Hampshire, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. A copy of the original invoice from Gordon Reece Gallery, with a lengthy description of the present lot and confirming the dating above, accompanies this lot. Gordon Reece is a collector of African and Indian tribal art and artefacts who founded the Gordon Reece Gallery in 1981, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. Many of the objects he collected where donated to museums, including the V&A, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum. John Lippitt (1928-2019) was a civil servant who dominated British industrial policy in the 1970s and became a commercial negotiator for the General Electric Company in East Asia. He was involved in major projects including the Guangdong power station in China, the Pergau Dam in Malaysia, and in defense and high technology projects all over Southeast Asia. Lippitt was said to be a tough negotiator, and his Chinese counterparts gave him the nickname ‘The man behind the jade screen’.
Condition: Good condition with wear, signs of weathering and erosion, some expected age cracks, small losses, all as expected for organic material.

Weight: 41.5 kg
Dimensions: 177 x 66 cm

Hanuman crouches in the upper left frame wearing a tribal grass skirt next to a panel with two men holding rifles. Below Hanuman is a monkey climbing through the leafy branches of a tall tree next to a seated four-armed Ganesha. Further down, a worshiper is carved approaching a wrathful deity holding a mala and water vessel next to a panel with a lion attacking its prey. A two-headed mythical beast, with one head raised and the other head grazing, is depicted next to two figures playing instruments. The last two rows depict scenes of agriculture and hunting.

The Gond or Gondi people are an ethnolinguistic group in India. Their native language, Gondi, belongs to the Dravidian family. The Gond have formed many kingdoms of historical significance within the Gondwana region, and they were first mentioned by Muslim merchants in the 14^th century. Doors such as these were the property of the tribal chief and were a symbol of prestige and authority.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related Gond tribal door decorated with the same two-headed mythical beast as well as animals and scenes from tribal life, dated to the 19^th century, from the collection of Vittorio Carini and illustrated by Renzo Freschi in the article Tribal Doors of Central India on his website, previously published in Archetipo, 1983.