Tribal Art Sale at Sotheby's

Sotheby’s will hold its spring sale of art from Africa, Oceania, and the ancient Americas in New York on May 15. It will be led by a rare Pende helmet mask that was featured in the 1984 Primitivism show at MOMA. Also featured will be highlights from the New York estate of the late Helena Segy and, by extension, the personal collection of her noted husband, Ladislas Segy. Significant among these are a rare Ngbandi ivory spoon and an unusually early Kota reliquary. A large and fine Lobi couple from the collection of Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler and an Mbembe figure once owned by Georg Baselitz will also be offered. An unusual highlight of the sale is an extremely early Kanak stone figure from New Caledonia collected by the missionary Père Pierre Lambert between 1856 and 1863. 

View the online catalogue.

Male figure  -  Luba, D.R. Congo

Monumental head  -  Kanak, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

Helmet mask  -  Luluwa, D. R. Congo

Male reliquary figure,  eyema byeri  -   Fang-Ntumu, Gabon

 Images courtesy of Sotheby's

The Myron Kunin Collection at Sotheby's

On November 11 in New York, Sotheby's will put before the bidders the remarkable collection of Myron Kunin (1928 – 2013), who amassed one of the finest private assemblages of African art in the world. The collection includes masterpieces from all regions of sub-Saharan Africa, and is particularly strong in works of great refinement and classical beauty originating from Ivory Coast, Gabon, and the Congo. 

View the online catalogue.

Maternity  -  Kongo-Yombe, D.R. Congo

Janus-headed power figure  -  Songye, D.R. Congo

Female figure  -  Senufo, Côte d'Ivoire or Burkina Faso

Reliquary head  -  Fang-Betsi, Gabon

Images courtesy of Sotheby's

Sotheby's - The Collection of Allan Stone Pt. 2

On May 16, Sotheby's New York will present two important sales of tribal art: The Collection of Allan Stone: African, Pre-Columbian & American Indian Art - Volume Two and African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art Including Property from the Krugier and Lasansky Collections, featuring a wide selection of exquisite works from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Highlighting the second and final auction of The Collection of Allan Stone is a group of Songye power gigures and Kongo nail power figures from the Democratic Republic of Congo, including several by known hands.

View the online catalogue.

Power figure, nkisi nkondi - Kongo, DR Congo

Power figure, nkishi - Songye, DR Congo

Power figure, nkisi nkondi - Kongo-Yombe, DR Congo

Mask  -  Ibibio, Nigeria

Power figure - Kongo-Vili, DR Congo

Images courtesy of Sotheby's