Online catalogue for the 65th tribal art auction

41 "Malagan" figure

This object is not available any more.

Papua New Guinea - Bismarck Archipelago - New Ireland

wood, painted with black, white and red pigment, slender body with a high towering crown-shaped coiffure rising from a base with thorn-like projection, characterized by stylized filigree openwork design, the slender limbs completed by delicate bars, enlivened by polychrome paint, slightly dam., minor missing parts and cracks, metal base; presumably representing an "n'gass" spirit. The "malagan" is a system of mortuary rites which serve to free the soul from the body of the deceased so that it may go to its final resting place. Advantage is also taken of the advent of a "malagan" cycle to initiate the young men-to-be into adulthood.

H: 146,5 cm
H: 57.7 inch

Provenance
Coll. Christian Couturier, Paris, France

Literature
Meyer, Anthony J.P., Ozeanische Kunst, Vol. II, Köln 1995, p. 348
Gunn, Michael, Ritual Arts of Oceania - New Ireland, Genf, Mailand 1997, p. 123

Price: 6000 - 8000 €

42 Double sculpture of a fish

This object is not available any more.

Papua-Neuguinea - Bismarck Archipel - New Irland - Tench Island

wood, light- and reddish brown patina, nearly identical formed fishes with tapering dorsal and ventral fins, arranged back to back with the touching tail fins forming a central diamond-shaped ornament, the bodies slightly vaulted, the raised middle ridge surrounded by incised geometrical ornaments and fish motifs in miniature size, only one corpus is decorated this way, the other one remained plain, the eyes inset with Turbo phetolatus shell, old collection number "435" in white paint, slightly dam., cracks, small traces of insect caused damage; present sculpture might have been collected on the German South Seas expedition 1908 -10. A comparable object can be seen in the publication of Hans Nevermann on the St. Matthias Group (Hamburg 1933, p. 233, ill. 7). A vivid exchange of objects between german and netherlandish museums in the first half of the 20th century is proven and the fish sculpture might have got to Nymeege that way. The Tench atoll is a remote island in the St. Matthias group in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. Objects from Tench are very rare, the few things known are kept in museums. The stylized fish double motive nowadays can only be found on "malagan" displays for funerary ceremonies. The object might have been used as dance wand. A special characteristic is the use of Turbo phetolatus shell for the eyes.

B: 62 cm; H: 13 cm
B: 24.4 inch; H: 5.1 inch

Provenance
Nymeegs Volkenkundig Museum (Coll. Nr. 435), Nymwegen, The Netherlands
Michel Thieme, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Literature
Dr. Hans Nevermann, St. Matthias-Gruppe, Hamburg 1933, ersch. in der Reihe: Ergebnisse der Südsee-Expedition 1908-1910, hrsg. von Dr. G. Thilenius, II. Ethnographie: A. Melanesien, Band 2

Sold.

43 Ceremonial adze

This object is not available any more.

Cook Islands, Mangaia Island

wood, reddish brown patina, round shaft, the surface entirely coated with deep cut ring- and zigzag-shaped patterns, mortised wooden "blade" with shell inlay, fixed with fine plaited plant fibre strings (partly torn or missing), slightly dam., minor missing parts, paint rubbed off (blade)

L: 72,5 cm
L: 28.5 inch

Sold.

44 Battle hammer "totokia"

This object is not available any more.

Fidji Islands

heavy wood, light reddish brown patina, massive club head with notches, tapering to the end, slightly dam., minor missing parts, cracks; the club was discovered by a child about 50 years ago in an abandoned house in Germany. The club head should represent the fruit of the pandanus tree. The point at the end was meant to knock a hole in the skull of the adversary, and because they did not require much of a backswing to be effective, they were favoured for combat in the underbrush. Some chiefs valued these clubs so highly that they were buried with them in order to be properly equipped for their journeys in the afterworld.

L: 74 cm
L: 29.1 inch

Literature
Wardwell, Allen, Island Ancestors, Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection, 1994, p. 165, ill. 67a

Price: 800 - 1500 €

45 Parrying shield

This object is not available any more.

Australia

wood (bean tree ?), red ochre, of elongated oval form with irregular contours, fine fluting, a bow-shaped handle backside (missing part overmodeled with a tar-like blackish mass), drilled hole, slightly dam., minor missing parts

L: 71, 5 cm
L: 71, 2 inch

Provenance
Coll. Dr. George Alan Solem, Chicago, USA
Michael Auliso, San Francisco, USA

Literature
Carrick, John (ed.), Art of the first Australians, Camperdown o.J., p. 15

Price: 600 - 1200 €

46 Parrying shield

This object is not available any more.

Australia

wood, red ochre, dark brown paint, stone cut, fine fluted, angle-shaped to the front, vertical on the back, handle at the same place, slightly dam., minor missing parts along the rim, on metal base; the thin parrying shields were used to deflect clubs and boomerangs; the broader shields were a protection from spears. The finished shield was rubbed with animal fat to prevent cracking.

H: 70 cm
H: 27.6 inch

Provenance
Private Collection, USA

Price: 1400 - 2800 €

47 Miniature figure

This object is not available any more.

Canada, Inuit

walrus ivory, standing armless figure, with incised necklace, elaborate worked, old collection number backside "0964", rep., on small base

H: 4,5 cm
H: 1.8 inch

Provenance
coll. in situ by Otto William Geist (1920)
Jeffrey Myers, New York, USA
Thomas Murray, Mill Valley, USA
Al Farrow, California, USA

Sold.

48 Spoon

This object is not available any more.

North America, Haida

light-weighted wood, reddish brown patina, flat handle, carved with a stylized anthropomorphic being, remains of an old collection label on the underside, characters unreadable, slightly dam., paint rubbed off, on metal base

L: 26 cm
L: 10.2 inch

Provenance
Old Collection, Great Britain

Sold.

49 dropped

This object is not available any more.

50 Ritual cylinder

This object is not available any more.

Mexico, Maya, El Salvador

clay, round bottom, painted with polychrome geometrical and figural motifs, min. dam., cracks, slight traces of abrasion; the Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems.

H: 19 cm, Late Classic, ca. 550 - 950 AD
H: 7.5 inch, Late Classic, ca. 550 - 950 AD

Provenance
American Collection, Florida, USA

Literature
Leyenaar, Ted u.a., Von Küste zu Küste, o.O. 1992, p. 362, ill. 345

Sold.