Tropical Africa
1575-1625 Benin Head of an Oba
2007 SOLD for $ 4.7M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2017 before the sale of another figure by Sotheby's (see below)
By an ambitious policy of conquest, the Edo ethnic group created 550 years ago a very powerful empire centered on a one-of-a-kind capital named Benin in present-day Nigeria. The king better known as the Oba attributes to himself divine powers which for several centuries ensure the stability of the regime and of the art that adorns the palace. Horrified by the practice of human sacrifices, the British destroyed Benin in 1897 and disseminated its art.
The so-called bronze of Benin is actually an alloy closer to a brass using a technique of lost-wax casting developed before any contact with Europeans. It is divided into two very different styles of works, the plaques that commemorate events or dignitaries and the heads in the round of the Oba kings. It is helpful to study these two categories together to establish the chronology of this art.
The heads are not portraits but ideal figurations of the previous Oba kings of the reigning dynasty. These figures are dedicated to devotion as altarpieces.
Philip Dark describes five overlapping phases along with more detailed groups. The 24 cm high Oba head sold as lot 121 on May 17, 2007 by Sotheby's for $ 4.7M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 1M is a Type 3 Group 2A created between 1575 and 1625 CE.
On December 12, 2017, Sotheby's sold for € 1.87M including premium a Type 4 head of Oba 32 cm high. Compared to the head in the previous sale, power symbols and mystic symbols appear in high relief on the headdress and on the base added for that purpose. The cylindrical collar that rises up to the lips is composed of 33 rings of metal pearls compared to the 22 rings of the other head.
The so-called bronze of Benin is actually an alloy closer to a brass using a technique of lost-wax casting developed before any contact with Europeans. It is divided into two very different styles of works, the plaques that commemorate events or dignitaries and the heads in the round of the Oba kings. It is helpful to study these two categories together to establish the chronology of this art.
The heads are not portraits but ideal figurations of the previous Oba kings of the reigning dynasty. These figures are dedicated to devotion as altarpieces.
Philip Dark describes five overlapping phases along with more detailed groups. The 24 cm high Oba head sold as lot 121 on May 17, 2007 by Sotheby's for $ 4.7M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 1M is a Type 3 Group 2A created between 1575 and 1625 CE.
On December 12, 2017, Sotheby's sold for € 1.87M including premium a Type 4 head of Oba 32 cm high. Compared to the head in the previous sale, power symbols and mystic symbols appear in high relief on the headdress and on the base added for that purpose. The cylindrical collar that rises up to the lips is composed of 33 rings of metal pearls compared to the 22 rings of the other head.
Baga Shoulder Mask
2021 SOLD for € 4.7M by Christie's
Made in Guinea, the Baga headdress is the most colossal African dance mask, measuring about 1.30 m high and weighing in the region of 60 Kg. Designed to be placed on the shoulders, it has the shape of the monumental bust of a woman. The holes for the eyes are opened between the breasts. A textile skirt clung to the foot rings is still increasing the weight of this equipment that can only be danced by a strong man, as observed by a visitor during a ceremony in 1886.
Locally named D'mba by the Baga and Nimba (great spirit) by their neighbours who transmitted the latter wording to the Europeans, they accompany weddings and harvests as a symbol of agrarian and human fertility. The head shape is very specific with a long chin and a strong nose. The full breasts are fitted with big cylindrical nipples.
This design was executed over centuries from single wood blocks altered by plant juice or dark soil. It was described as early as 1615 CE by a Portuguese explorer, soon after the Baga were rebuilding their civilization and myths after being chased by hostile tribes from their native Fouta Djallon to the Guinean coast.
Picasso was fascinated by one of these masks that he owned. His appeal from Marie-Thérèse Walter viewed at random in a Parisian street is due to the protruding nose of the young blonde who unwittingly demonstrated to him that the feminine ideal can be multi-racial. Pablo exploited this idea in his first sculpted busts of his muse.
The D'mba mask remains a centerpiece of Guinean folklore. In February 2015, the Baga community made a request for it to be listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.
The mask from the Périnet collection was sold for € 4.7M by Christie's on June 23, 2021, lot 17.
The mask from the Vérité collection was sold for € 2.25M by Enchères Rive Gauche on June 17, 2006 and for € 2.4M by Christie's in Paris on June 23, 2015, lot 42.
Locally named D'mba by the Baga and Nimba (great spirit) by their neighbours who transmitted the latter wording to the Europeans, they accompany weddings and harvests as a symbol of agrarian and human fertility. The head shape is very specific with a long chin and a strong nose. The full breasts are fitted with big cylindrical nipples.
This design was executed over centuries from single wood blocks altered by plant juice or dark soil. It was described as early as 1615 CE by a Portuguese explorer, soon after the Baga were rebuilding their civilization and myths after being chased by hostile tribes from their native Fouta Djallon to the Guinean coast.
Picasso was fascinated by one of these masks that he owned. His appeal from Marie-Thérèse Walter viewed at random in a Parisian street is due to the protruding nose of the young blonde who unwittingly demonstrated to him that the feminine ideal can be multi-racial. Pablo exploited this idea in his first sculpted busts of his muse.
The D'mba mask remains a centerpiece of Guinean folklore. In February 2015, the Baga community made a request for it to be listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.
The mask from the Périnet collection was sold for € 4.7M by Christie's on June 23, 2021, lot 17.
The mask from the Vérité collection was sold for € 2.25M by Enchères Rive Gauche on June 17, 2006 and for € 2.4M by Christie's in Paris on June 23, 2015, lot 42.
Christie's sold for € 4.7M a Baga shoulder mask.
— ArtHitParade (@ArtHitParade) June 24, 2021
MASQUE D'ÉPAULE NIMBA BAGA https://t.co/Q4rHdNCNuE
Fénéon's Arts from Remote Places
2014 SOLD 4.35 M€ including premium
A masterpiece of African tribal art estimated € 2.5 million for sale on June 18 at Sotheby's in Paris revives the amazing and eccentric personality of Félix Fénéon.
An anarchist activist who became an effective art critic, Fénéon was the discoverer of Seurat before entering the illusion of the communist ideal with Signac. Refusing social or artistic pre-established solutions, he was one of the first along with Apollinaire to be interested in African art.
In 1920, Fénéon obtains and publishes the opinions of twenty specialists on the topic of relevance or not to consider the primitive arts, named by him Arts Lointains, on the same level as the European masterpieces in the Louvre. This question had a final answer 80 years later when Jacques Kerchache obtained the creation of a specialized section in that Museum.
In 1920, the African standard bearer in Fénéon's collection is a Fang figure 67 cm high of a nude woman in seated position which will also later join the Kerchache collection. Its characteristics differ from other Fang styles by a careful anatomical realism and an active expression. The mouth is open to speak.
It was sculpted after the tribal migrations of the eighteenth century (we do not know exactly when) in a very tiny Fang subgroup, the Mabea of Cameroon, whose artistic output is extremely rare. Only a dozen of their ancestor figures are known. The Fénéon-Kerchache specimen is the last in private hands. It is estimated € 2.5 M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The prestigious African figure was sold for € 4.35M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
An anarchist activist who became an effective art critic, Fénéon was the discoverer of Seurat before entering the illusion of the communist ideal with Signac. Refusing social or artistic pre-established solutions, he was one of the first along with Apollinaire to be interested in African art.
In 1920, Fénéon obtains and publishes the opinions of twenty specialists on the topic of relevance or not to consider the primitive arts, named by him Arts Lointains, on the same level as the European masterpieces in the Louvre. This question had a final answer 80 years later when Jacques Kerchache obtained the creation of a specialized section in that Museum.
In 1920, the African standard bearer in Fénéon's collection is a Fang figure 67 cm high of a nude woman in seated position which will also later join the Kerchache collection. Its characteristics differ from other Fang styles by a careful anatomical realism and an active expression. The mouth is open to speak.
It was sculpted after the tribal migrations of the eighteenth century (we do not know exactly when) in a very tiny Fang subgroup, the Mabea of Cameroon, whose artistic output is extremely rare. Only a dozen of their ancestor figures are known. The Fénéon-Kerchache specimen is the last in private hands. It is estimated € 2.5 M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The prestigious African figure was sold for € 4.35M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
Fang-Betsi Head
2021 SOLD for € 7.7M by Christie's
To meet the need to communicate with the dead, sculptors from the Fang-Betsi ethnic subgroup in Gabon produced masterpieces. Two types of figures coexisted. The standing statuettes had a ritual role, while the rarer heads were used for family devotion.
The heads have this remarkable characteristic of bringing an individualization of the details within a general shape which is invariant : the forehead is broad and curved, the lips are tight, the chin is minimized, the neck is a cylinder. The artists also executed a superb polishing on their geometrically perfect curves.
For the family that kept the wooden head, the deceased was identifiable both by the facial features and by an attribute. However it is impossible for a modern observer to state whether a head is male or female, despite the diversity of hairstyles.
At the beginning of the 20th century, when several of these Fang heads, identified as têtes Pahouines at that time, could be described and exhibited together, it was indeed the simultaneous observation of their similarities and of their differences that forever changed the modern European art. As early as 1906, Vlaminck, Derain, Braque and Matisse shared the new craze for African art, soon followed by Picasso.
On June 23, 2021, Christie's sold for € 7.7M from a lower estimate of € 2M a 35 cm high Fang-Betsi head that had belonged to Vlaminck, lot 9. Most of these reliquary pieces have a specific feature enabling to the tribe to identify the ancestor. It is in this case the trefoil headdress on the back of the skull.
The heads have this remarkable characteristic of bringing an individualization of the details within a general shape which is invariant : the forehead is broad and curved, the lips are tight, the chin is minimized, the neck is a cylinder. The artists also executed a superb polishing on their geometrically perfect curves.
For the family that kept the wooden head, the deceased was identifiable both by the facial features and by an attribute. However it is impossible for a modern observer to state whether a head is male or female, despite the diversity of hairstyles.
At the beginning of the 20th century, when several of these Fang heads, identified as têtes Pahouines at that time, could be described and exhibited together, it was indeed the simultaneous observation of their similarities and of their differences that forever changed the modern European art. As early as 1906, Vlaminck, Derain, Braque and Matisse shared the new craze for African art, soon followed by Picasso.
On June 23, 2021, Christie's sold for € 7.7M from a lower estimate of € 2M a 35 cm high Fang-Betsi head that had belonged to Vlaminck, lot 9. Most of these reliquary pieces have a specific feature enabling to the tribe to identify the ancestor. It is in this case the trefoil headdress on the back of the skull.
Fang head for sale by Christie's in Paris on June 23https://t.co/anAuchhpjE
— ArtHitParade (@ArtHitParade) June 17, 2021
The Art of the Warua Master
2015 SOLD for £ 6.1M including premium
The increasingly detailed knowledge of the masterpieces of African art allows to group some figures. The corpus from the Warua Master from the Luba ethnic group includes altogether four bow stands, two stools and three statuettes.
One of these pieces has a history of collection. It was given in 1902 or 1903 to an explorer by the chief of a village on the Luvua river in Congo.
The only male figure in this set is a statuette 42 cm high, sold for $ 3.6 million including premium by Sotheby's on May 15, 2015. Although this specific artwork has no functional use, I noted that the geometric regularity and the beauty of shapes was guided by the utilitarian role of other artefacts created by the same hand.
On July 9 in London, Christie's sells one of the four bow stands, lot 110 estimated £ 1.5M.
The female figure with pointed breasts has a striking resemblance with the male statuette discussed above with regard to the attitude, the proportions in the body, the shape of the head and the facial lines. Perched on a small pedestal, she wears on her head a carved trident that can hold the bows. The total height of this piece is 64 cm.
One of these pieces has a history of collection. It was given in 1902 or 1903 to an explorer by the chief of a village on the Luvua river in Congo.
The only male figure in this set is a statuette 42 cm high, sold for $ 3.6 million including premium by Sotheby's on May 15, 2015. Although this specific artwork has no functional use, I noted that the geometric regularity and the beauty of shapes was guided by the utilitarian role of other artefacts created by the same hand.
On July 9 in London, Christie's sells one of the four bow stands, lot 110 estimated £ 1.5M.
The female figure with pointed breasts has a striking resemblance with the male statuette discussed above with regard to the attitude, the proportions in the body, the shape of the head and the facial lines. Perched on a small pedestal, she wears on her head a carved trident that can hold the bows. The total height of this piece is 64 cm.
Last night this Luba figure sold for £6,130,50, the highest price for a work of African art at auction in the UK. pic.twitter.com/anPH0wpvV1
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) July 10, 2015Luba Beast-Man Mask
2021 SOLD for € 7.2M by Christie's
Christie's sold for € 7.2M a Luba beast-man mask.
— ArtHitParade (@ArtHitParade) June 24, 2021
MASQUE LUBA https://t.co/eJg0jvp8VY
Geometry for the Senufo
2014 SOLD for $ 12M including premium
The mythology of the Senufo people in Ivory Coast gives the leading role to the genesis. All human beings have a matrilineal link to the couple of primordial ancestors. The rites are held in every village by an initiatory society, the Poro.
This belief is embodied in statues that are used at both passages, puberty and death, as well as sanctuary ornaments. On November 11 in New York, Sotheby's sells a figure of the divine mother, 92 cm high, lot 48.
The Senufo artist who made this work did not wish to respect the proportions: the torso is very long and narrow and the legs are short, perhaps to be seen from below like a figure of El Greco. Instead, he expressed the mythic power by using geometry. For example, the ears are perfect circles, breasts are cones and eyebrows are a simple horizontal line.
The prominent navel resulting from the loss of the umbilical cord is the link that evokes fertility and creation. The line drawings adorning the bodies of the pubescent women are copied onto the statuette.
The ancient history of this piece is unknown, but comparisons may date its realization in the nineteenth century or early twentieth century. It would be a contemporary to the majestic Senufo primordial couple that was sold for $ 4 million including premium by Sotheby's on November 14, 2008.
This belief is embodied in statues that are used at both passages, puberty and death, as well as sanctuary ornaments. On November 11 in New York, Sotheby's sells a figure of the divine mother, 92 cm high, lot 48.
The Senufo artist who made this work did not wish to respect the proportions: the torso is very long and narrow and the legs are short, perhaps to be seen from below like a figure of El Greco. Instead, he expressed the mythic power by using geometry. For example, the ears are perfect circles, breasts are cones and eyebrows are a simple horizontal line.
The prominent navel resulting from the loss of the umbilical cord is the link that evokes fertility and creation. The line drawings adorning the bodies of the pubescent women are copied onto the statuette.
The ancient history of this piece is unknown, but comparisons may date its realization in the nineteenth century or early twentieth century. It would be a contemporary to the majestic Senufo primordial couple that was sold for $ 4 million including premium by Sotheby's on November 14, 2008.
collected < 1920s Primitivism from De Miré to Rubin
2015 SOLD for € 5.5M including premium
The Kota reliquary figure was used to mark the location of a buried basket containing the relics of the dead. These tribal graveyard ornaments from Gabon have common generic features.
The flat face in leaf shape is more or less stylized. It is placed on a wider oval on which they could hang ear ornaments. The hair is a crest looking like a military helmet and the hollowed diamond shape constituting the body is undoubtedly a symbol of female fertility.
Collected at an unknown date, which is the case for most of these pieces, a Kota figure 66 cm high had highly influenced the art of the twentieth century by the constructivist purity of its face limited to a central ridge between the two eyes positioned halfway up the head.
Its provenance is exceptional.
Its earliest identified owner is Georges de Miré in the 1920s. De Miré was one of very few connoisseurs at that time who knew to see an intrinsic artistic quality within a tribal piece.
Following financial difficulties, De Miré sold his collection at auction in Drouot on 16 December 1931. The Kota was purchased at this sale by Helena Rubinstein.
It was acquired in the early 1980s by William Rubin, the director in New York MoMA and former friend of Picasso who was able to interview the artists to explain the depth of the tribal influence on modern art, becoming the most subtle theorist of primitivism.
This figure is estimated € 6M for sale by Christie's in Paris on June 23, lot 37. The video shared by Christie's to introduce this lot is mostly a tribute to Rubin's exceptional vision.
The flat face in leaf shape is more or less stylized. It is placed on a wider oval on which they could hang ear ornaments. The hair is a crest looking like a military helmet and the hollowed diamond shape constituting the body is undoubtedly a symbol of female fertility.
Collected at an unknown date, which is the case for most of these pieces, a Kota figure 66 cm high had highly influenced the art of the twentieth century by the constructivist purity of its face limited to a central ridge between the two eyes positioned halfway up the head.
Its provenance is exceptional.
Its earliest identified owner is Georges de Miré in the 1920s. De Miré was one of very few connoisseurs at that time who knew to see an intrinsic artistic quality within a tribal piece.
Following financial difficulties, De Miré sold his collection at auction in Drouot on 16 December 1931. The Kota was purchased at this sale by Helena Rubinstein.
It was acquired in the early 1980s by William Rubin, the director in New York MoMA and former friend of Picasso who was able to interview the artists to explain the depth of the tribal influence on modern art, becoming the most subtle theorist of primitivism.
This figure is estimated € 6M for sale by Christie's in Paris on June 23, lot 37. The video shared by Christie's to introduce this lot is mostly a tribute to Rubin's exceptional vision.
collected < 1930s The Baule Duality
2015 SOLD for € 5.4M including premium
The Baule (Baoulé) from Ivory Coast used the abstract concept of duality as a mystical element for understanding the world. The duality takes many forms: man and woman, body and soul, the object and its shadow, the reflection, the confluence, the twins, and even the role of the ego in the community.
The Vérité collection included since the 1930s a double mask, sold for € 1.3 million including premium by Enchères Rive Gauche on 17 June 2006. It is now estimated € 2M for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on June 24, lot 26.
Unlike the Janus figures, the two faces are side by side. It is a real mask in which only the two central eyes are pierced to be used in that function.
Both heads are identical in shape but differ in the location of scars, in the hair and in the color of the patina that has been partially preserved. It is indeed a male-female duality. The serene and wise attitude of the two heads confirms that the meaning is more philosophical than religious. This is not an emanation of the primordial couple.
A double mask is created by the artist on the occasion of a twin birth, probably as a unique piece that explains its great rarity. Two other examples only are known. A dancer wore this mask in the presence of the real twins during festive celebrations.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's :
The Vérité collection included since the 1930s a double mask, sold for € 1.3 million including premium by Enchères Rive Gauche on 17 June 2006. It is now estimated € 2M for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on June 24, lot 26.
Unlike the Janus figures, the two faces are side by side. It is a real mask in which only the two central eyes are pierced to be used in that function.
Both heads are identical in shape but differ in the location of scars, in the hair and in the color of the patina that has been partially preserved. It is indeed a male-female duality. The serene and wise attitude of the two heads confirms that the meaning is more philosophical than religious. This is not an emanation of the primordial couple.
A double mask is created by the artist on the occasion of a twin birth, probably as a unique piece that explains its great rarity. Two other examples only are known. A dancer wore this mask in the presence of the real twins during festive celebrations.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's :
The Baule Moon
2019 SOLD for € 4.7M including premium
The numerous celebrations of the Baule (Baoulé) ethnic group of Côte d'Ivoire gave rise to the creation of masks in a great variety, used in dances and processions. These masks have significantly influenced the European art. In 1926 Man Ray juxtaposes a black mask with Kiki's white face. In 1937 a buffalo mask inspires the graphic style of Picasso's Guernica.
The Baoulé thus had ritual masks for mystical ceremonies forbidden to women, specific masks for funerary ceremonies and other masks for processions of feasts.
The processions are opened by the Sun and the Moon, which have no mystical meaning in this circumstance. They are followed by masks of animals and humans. Astral masks are shaped as perfect circles that can be fully surrounded by an openwork headband. Their artistic quality is variable.
On June 18 in Paris, Sotheby's sells as lot 23 a superb Baoulé moon mask, still shiny from its tribal polishing with an abrasive leaf. For preserving human features without obliterating the astral representation, the face is reduced to its basic characteristics below a large forehead.
The outline of the mask includes a braided hair and a finial of three open triangles, certainly surviving from an otherwise broken headband. The catalog assumes that this loss made it unusable and that the tribe accepted for this reason to supply it to a foreigner.
The Baoulé thus had ritual masks for mystical ceremonies forbidden to women, specific masks for funerary ceremonies and other masks for processions of feasts.
The processions are opened by the Sun and the Moon, which have no mystical meaning in this circumstance. They are followed by masks of animals and humans. Astral masks are shaped as perfect circles that can be fully surrounded by an openwork headband. Their artistic quality is variable.
On June 18 in Paris, Sotheby's sells as lot 23 a superb Baoulé moon mask, still shiny from its tribal polishing with an abrasive leaf. For preserving human features without obliterating the astral representation, the face is reduced to its basic characteristics below a large forehead.
The outline of the mask includes a braided hair and a finial of three open triangles, certainly surviving from an otherwise broken headband. The catalog assumes that this loss made it unusable and that the tribe accepted for this reason to supply it to a foreigner.
#AuctionUpdate C'était l'un des lots les plus attendus de la vente, le rarissime Masque Lune Baulé, Côte d'Ivoire, a été disputé jusqu'à 4,7 millions € #CollectionRivière #SothebysAfricanArt pic.twitter.com/uwVg6xRpNl
— Sotheby's France (@SothebysFr) June 18, 2019
Ngil Mask
2006 SOLD for € 5.9M by Enchères Rive Gauche
In the deep forest, individuals may try to take advantage of the credulity of others. Some natural phenomena and diseases remain unexplained. To face such situations, the Fang from Gabon had a secret brotherhood with initiatory recruitment, the Ngil, acting both as police and justice.
To terrorize the evil-doers, the Ngil members were busy at night with much noise. To avoid being identified with an individual from the community, the dancer wore a helmet mask. Of course this practice soon became incompatible with the colonial administration and very few of these masks were preserved.
The Ngil mask shows a very elongated face whose features are refined. The prominent eyebrows join the bridge of the nose. The eyes are reduced to small slits and the mouth is minimized or absent. To accentuate their nocturnal power while evoking the livid world of spirits, they were whitened with kaolin. When examples were brought in Europe, they influenced modern art including Modigliani.
With an exceptional preservation of its white kaolin crust, the mask from the Vérité collection was sold for € 5.9M by Enchères Rive Gauche on June 17, 2006.
On October 30, 2018, Christie's sold for € 2.4M as lot 98 another Ngil mask which has preserved a very long and abundant hair, a small raffia beard and scarifications in the shape of a double arrow on both temples.
On the opposite, the mask sold for € 930K by Christie's on December 13, 2011 had been used without a coating.
To terrorize the evil-doers, the Ngil members were busy at night with much noise. To avoid being identified with an individual from the community, the dancer wore a helmet mask. Of course this practice soon became incompatible with the colonial administration and very few of these masks were preserved.
The Ngil mask shows a very elongated face whose features are refined. The prominent eyebrows join the bridge of the nose. The eyes are reduced to small slits and the mouth is minimized or absent. To accentuate their nocturnal power while evoking the livid world of spirits, they were whitened with kaolin. When examples were brought in Europe, they influenced modern art including Modigliani.
With an exceptional preservation of its white kaolin crust, the mask from the Vérité collection was sold for € 5.9M by Enchères Rive Gauche on June 17, 2006.
On October 30, 2018, Christie's sold for € 2.4M as lot 98 another Ngil mask which has preserved a very long and abundant hair, a small raffia beard and scarifications in the shape of a double arrow on both temples.
On the opposite, the mask sold for € 930K by Christie's on December 13, 2011 had been used without a coating.
