Without doubt, the fascination of African masks and sculptures arises from its extraordinary and remarkable expressiveness. However, its enhancement in value is a result of its old and documented provenance and – in the stroke of luck – due to stylistic attribution it can be verified to an artist or his workshop.

Both items can be documented by the couple of ancestor figures from the Mangbetu, D.R. Congo (lot 353), made by DOPIA MOTOTO between 1914 and 1928. Both figures show the stylistic elements of royal art of the Mangbetu-Aristocracy. The provenances are Emil Storrer, Zurich, and Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels.

Due to stylistics a head crest of the Bamun (lot 252) can be attributed to NDAM NJI MARE from the village Makoutam in the Cameroon Grasslands, dated to the late 19th / early 20th Century. A comparable head crest from the Malantue-Region can be seen in the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, another one had been shown in the big Cameroon-Exhibition in the Museum Rietberg in Zurich in 2008.

As most of the ritual figures of the Fang got lost with the christian proselytization, a Reliquary Guardian Figure of the Fang-Beti (lot 258) (h: 49cm) from the Southern Cameroon should attract high interest. It will be offered at 80,000 €, the highest offer in the auction. This figure once belonged to an old German Colonial Collection of the 19th Century and captivates by its clear forms, its charms and magic that seem to be everlasting inherent.

About 450 objects are shown in the catalogue with a special focus on art from the Congo, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. They all share the abstract figuration as it later became evident in the works particularly of the Primitivism and Fauvism.

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