Tracing the ancestors
published: 2008, February 18
Some 500 art objects will be offered in the auction catalogue of the 53rd tribal art auction. Among them a large selection from the cultural area Oceania (about 60 items) with its focus Indonesia, South Pacific and Papua New Guinea. Right at the start of the auction there is a pair of rice deities "bulul" of Ifuago, Philippines (Lot 2), which belonged to the prestigious Paris collection Alain Schoffel by the ‘70s (limit € 14,000).
Among Old America there is an outstanding anthropomorphic Jadeite-Figurine of the Olmecs from Mexico (Lot 98). It is listed on the back by an old number "321-4" (limit € 10,000).
Once auctioned at Sotheby Parke Benet in 1972, among lot 184 an Antelope dance crest 'tjiwara' of the Bamana, Mali, is going to come into the market again (limit € 18,000). The religious and social life of the Bamana people was determined by six initiation communities. Each level of initiation was represented by a special mask type. The 'tijwara' headdress belongs to the fifth level. Its members had to encourage a good harvest by celebrating their masquerades.The masks used to appear in pairs male-female, symbolizing the sun and the earth and their meaning for human life.
Among the Dan there can be seen a deangle mask (Lot 240). Its complete form belongs undoubtedly to the classics of African art, that has been collected by the '20s, particularly in France (limit € 33,000). Provenance: Jean-Paul Delcourt, french trader and collector, who lived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since the late ‘40s.
Two expressive sculptures will spark attention to ambitious collectors of classic modernism as well: a facial mask of the Fang, Gabon, (Lot 360) of the type of 'ekeke'. In Gabon, due to the destruction of the reach cult, objects and masks have endured only in few number. The mask was used in the New York collection Joseph and Doris Gerofsky whose provenance is secured in two other auction items (limit: € 35,000).
The second expressive sculpture is published as caryatid stool of the Holoholo (Lot 397), a small ethnic group in the middle Lake Tanganyika, of which only very few sculptures are secured. Attributed is the 'master of slit eyes', whose most famous objects are stored in museums (limit 40,000 €). Its origin lies in the late 19th Century and came in the collection of the colonial governor Secretary Max Wentzel in Tabora (Tanzania) after German expedition Rwanda 1893/94. Since 1909, it is owned by the german family and will now attain the art market for the first time.
Among (Lot 422) there is a little ivory amulet figure of Luba, Zaire, with provenance Marc Felix, Brussels (important journalist and expert on African art and collectors and dealers). Ivory amulets of Luba have portrait-like character. Devotees anointed the figures with oil in homage to the ancestors. Such treatments, together with regular handling and contact with the human body, gave the figures a smooth, lustrous surface and a rich caramel color ranging from yellowish-brown to auburn (limit € 13,000).
Following the tribal art auction, the auction house is going to held a silent auction for literature on the subject of non-european art with some 500 lots. Those who are interested are invited to bid only in writing.
Among Old America there is an outstanding anthropomorphic Jadeite-Figurine of the Olmecs from Mexico (Lot 98). It is listed on the back by an old number "321-4" (limit € 10,000).
Once auctioned at Sotheby Parke Benet in 1972, among lot 184 an Antelope dance crest 'tjiwara' of the Bamana, Mali, is going to come into the market again (limit € 18,000). The religious and social life of the Bamana people was determined by six initiation communities. Each level of initiation was represented by a special mask type. The 'tijwara' headdress belongs to the fifth level. Its members had to encourage a good harvest by celebrating their masquerades.The masks used to appear in pairs male-female, symbolizing the sun and the earth and their meaning for human life.
Among the Dan there can be seen a deangle mask (Lot 240). Its complete form belongs undoubtedly to the classics of African art, that has been collected by the '20s, particularly in France (limit € 33,000). Provenance: Jean-Paul Delcourt, french trader and collector, who lived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since the late ‘40s.
Two expressive sculptures will spark attention to ambitious collectors of classic modernism as well: a facial mask of the Fang, Gabon, (Lot 360) of the type of 'ekeke'. In Gabon, due to the destruction of the reach cult, objects and masks have endured only in few number. The mask was used in the New York collection Joseph and Doris Gerofsky whose provenance is secured in two other auction items (limit: € 35,000).
The second expressive sculpture is published as caryatid stool of the Holoholo (Lot 397), a small ethnic group in the middle Lake Tanganyika, of which only very few sculptures are secured. Attributed is the 'master of slit eyes', whose most famous objects are stored in museums (limit 40,000 €). Its origin lies in the late 19th Century and came in the collection of the colonial governor Secretary Max Wentzel in Tabora (Tanzania) after German expedition Rwanda 1893/94. Since 1909, it is owned by the german family and will now attain the art market for the first time.
Among (Lot 422) there is a little ivory amulet figure of Luba, Zaire, with provenance Marc Felix, Brussels (important journalist and expert on African art and collectors and dealers). Ivory amulets of Luba have portrait-like character. Devotees anointed the figures with oil in homage to the ancestors. Such treatments, together with regular handling and contact with the human body, gave the figures a smooth, lustrous surface and a rich caramel color ranging from yellowish-brown to auburn (limit € 13,000).
Following the tribal art auction, the auction house is going to held a silent auction for literature on the subject of non-european art with some 500 lots. Those who are interested are invited to bid only in writing.
