Tiki Pop

In the 1930s, Polynesian-themed bars and restaurants began to appear in America while the stereotypes of the beachcomber and the sexy vahine were popularised in literature and on the big screen. With the appearance of the Tiki aesthetic in the 1950s, this style became a genuine way of life. A very liberal adaptation of the original Polynesian idols, Tiki imagery was produced in traditional and modernist forms and pervaded everyday life. Through nearly 450 works, photographs, films, musical recordings and archive documents, a new exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly entitled Tiki Pop. L'Amérique rêve son paradis polynésien (Tiki Pop: America Imagines its Polynesian Paradise) bears witness to this infatuation-cum-lifestyle. A huge array of period items and ephemera are presented in the installation alongside authentic tribal works, including Maori tekoteko sculptures, Tongan kava bowls, and more.

View the exhibition's official website.

Images courtesy of the Musée du Quai Branly

Tribal Art Sale - Zemanek-Münster

Zemanek-Münster will present its 77th sale of tribal art and artifacts on June 28 in Würzburg.  The large group of offerings (numbering over 560) will include works from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, South Asia, the Americas, and all over Africa.

View the online catalogue.

Reliquary figure  -  Fang, Equatorial Guinea

Bronze figure  -  Benin, Nigeria

Rice god, bul'ul  -  Ifugao, Philippines

Images courtesy of Zemanek-Münster

Tribal Art Sale at Christie's

Christie's will hold a double auction today in Paris highlighting tribal works from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. African objects will be by far the most numerous in the second sale, which will feature a selection of sixty-six pieces from among the three hundred objects that make up the collection of Léonore and Rudolf Blum.

View the online catalogues.

Ceremonial headdress  -  Tsimshian or Haisla, Northwest Coast

Battle dagger  -  Tlingit, Northwest Coast

Mask  -  Bete/Guro, Côte d'Ivoire

Lime spatula  -  Massim, Papua New Guinea

Kifwebe mask  -  Songye, D.R. Congo

Mask  -  Bamana, Mali

 Images courtesy of Christie's

Tribal Art Sale at Sotheby's

A sale of exqusiite African and Oceanic art was held this afternoon at Sotheby's in Paris. Among the highlights were a spectacular Mabea Fang female figure which sold for over 4.3 million euros, works from the collection of Bernd Muhlack and a gorgeous Gabonese Vuvi mask.

View the auction results at the Sotheby's website.

Female figure  -  Mabea Fang, Cameroon  -  Early 19th century

Figure  -  Luluwa, D.R. Congo

Mask  -  Vuvi, Gabon

Figure  -  Bamileke, Bangwa Kingdom, Cameroon

Images courtesy of Sotheby's

Tribal Art Sale - Artcurial

A selection of just over eighty pieces of fine tribal art will be offered at Artcurial in Paris on June 17. Comprising almost exclusively a range of masks, statuary and other carvings from West and Central Africa, the sale will also include a small group of Oceanic works.

View the online catalogue.

Trumpet  -  Mende, Sierra Leone

Male figure  -  Guro, Côte d'Ivoire

Spoon  -  Dan, Côte d'Ivoire

Images courtesy of Artcurial

Fabulous Guro Mask for Sale at Tajan

On June 11, Tajan will put before the bidders an outstanding Guro dance mask in the style of the "Bouaflé Master." Featuring an exquisitely carved, embracing couple surmounting an almost otherworldly visage, this remarkable mask was once part of the collections of both André Breton and Charles Ratton and was published in Nancy Cunard's Negro: Anthology of 1934.

View the item at the Tajan website.

Tribal Art Sale at Webb's

Webb's of New Zealand will present a sale of tribal art and artifacts in Auckland on June 10. The assemblage of some 240 lots will include a fine selection of works from across Oceania, including a host of Maori garments and accessories, Polynesian and Melanesian prestige objects, as well as a collection of African arts.

View the online catalogue.

Ancestor figure  -  Marquesas Islands

Feather box  -  Maori, New Zealand

Gable mask  -  Satawan Atoll, Mortlock Islands

Whalebone ornament  -  Maori, New Zealand

Images courtesy of Webb's