Marc & Denyse Ginzberg auction at Sotheby's Paris - September 2007

On Monday September 10, 2007 the much anticipated sale of Marc & Denyse Ginzberg's African Art collection took place at Sotheby's Paris.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend but I am told the attendance was very good. The auction was well promoted by Sotheby's, with a fine catalogue and an artful pre-auction display. The sale was timed to take place on the eve of the opening of the annual Parcours des Mondes. The sale had objects from throughout Africa and had something for everyone, although the upscale setting may have intimidated the smaller collector.

The sale was the first major African Art auction solely comprised of non-figurative works (well, there was actually one figurative work - LOT 101) and so there was much anticipation over sale results. Working in the sale's favor was the Ginzberg's highly-regarded book African Forms as well as Marc & Denyse's proven track record as collectors and most people were rooting for the sale to do well.

Everyone I spoke to felt the sale was a success, and the total realized was 1,032,000 EUR (including commission). The star lots before the sale were the Mangbetu drum (LOT 36), the Kikuyu shield (LOT 5) and the Zulu snuff container (LOT 101) and none of them disappointed, with the drum fetching 110,400 EUR, the shield 108,000 EUR and the snuff 72,000 EUR (all prices include commission). I wasn't surprised by any of these prices - all great objects with broad appeal. The shields in particular did very well with a Madagascar shield (LOT25) fetching an astounding 26,400 EUR. The shields are very decorative and may have appealed to decorators or individuals who are not strictly tribal collectors.

I personally found the Fulani earrings (LOT 54) to be gorgeous and they fetched 15,000 EUR. Some other big prices were for the Zulu headrest LOT 160 (quite unique and with an old repair) at 20,400 EUR , the Lega spoon (LOT 149) 36,000 EUR and two Baule lots (LOT 75 & 76) fetched 21,600 EUR and 22,800 EUR respectively.

Almost all lots sold, partly due to the conservative estimates. There were definitely bargains to be had (e.g. the Shona headrest LOT 159 fetched a modest 2,880 EUR) and I was lucky enough to get some wonderful Zulu objects that I had always admired at Marc's home. It's sad to see the collection split up as it served a valuable purpose in educating people worldwide about the beauty of these everyday utilitarian objects and Marc & Denyse were always generous in sharing it with others.

Daniel
JacarandaTribal.com