It is the 61st Tribal Art Auction from Zemanek-Munster. Click here to visit the online catalog of lots.

Christie's African and Oceanic Art in Paris 6/15/10

To view the full catalogc of this auction, visit Christie's Online.

Oceanic & African Arts Sale at Webb’s

Webb's has been appointed by a US museum to manage the return of a significant collection of Maori, Australian Aboriginal and Oceanic pieces to the South Pacific region. Exceptional examples of sculpture, traditional dress and adornment, weaponry, ceremonial clubs, and other forms of indigenous art from Aotearoa and the broader Oceania area will be offered. The event also gives collectors the opportunity to consider a selection of African art of exceptional provenance from private Australasian, European and North American collections.

The viewing will be from June 11 through June 16, 2010. The auction itself on Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 4PM.

Lot 344a from the Sale:




Important Pou-Tokomanawa – Ancestral Totem - Architectural Element 
A highly prestigious form of ancestral carving, the pou-tokomanawa supported the central pole of the meeting house (pou-koukou-aro) at the base and signalled the delineation between entry and exit. As an ancestral totem, the pou-tokomanawa often represents celebrated traits of important leaders and thinkers. This pou-tokomanawa is carved with a firm muscular stance and an unflinching, confident, relaxed expression. Holding a patu in the right hand, denoting his knowledge of martial arts, and his left hand resting equally on the stomach. The torso is accentuated by its strong round shoulders and the simplicity of the form are both typical of the carving style of the North Island, east coast region. There is evidence of a piupiu having been previously attached. During the late 19th century, as Western sensibilities influenced concepts of social decorum and prestige, the addition of piupiu and cloaks to ancestral figures became increasingly common. The patina suggests significant age with remnants of early trade paint, heat damage and weather exposure evident. The base of the figure has deteriorated which is common given that this architectural form rested on the ground. The moko is prestigious with triple hae hae forms and complex rarua spirals evident on the upper and lower quarters of the nose and cheeks. The four extending forehead rays are also in triple haehae form. The stability of the wood is generally good, however the head, used to support the meeting house, carries a support cavity and is split. Later addition of mounting 19th century nails at the base still in place. Contemporary application of white paint to eyes. The Y registration form states that the object was found amongst the sand dunes of Gisborne during the 1950s and was then gifted to a member of the current owner’s family. H782mm W313mm. Y14046. 
$40,000 - $80,000

Nigeria's Nike Art Gallery’s Twist Climb of the Auction stake…

At last, the planned maiden edition of the 1st African Art Auction by Nike Art and Culture Foundation held last Saturday on the ground flour of the gallery at Lekki. The Nike organized art auction came in the heels of other auctions conducted by ArtHouse Contemporary and Tribes Art Gallery. The success of these auctions point to the fact that the Nigerian Visual Art Sub sector is finally keying into emerging secondary art market.

Despite the low turn out of invitees at the event , coupled with the fact that the auction took off about an hour behind schedule added with the failure of the appointed auctioneer in carrying out his duty, a situation that forced Prince Yemisi Shyllon the founder of OYASAF and one of the Patrons of the centre to take over the job, and he surprised everybody when he performed the duty of the auctioneer excellently.

The auction which witnessed the presence of few art patrons and artists was unique in many ways: first, it went down into history as the first auction that was done by an indigenous auctioneer and second, it remain the only auction in the country that has included photography in its auction items.

In all, the total sales was over six million for only 20 works out of the 140 works that were put up for sale. There were probably about 50 works bided that didn’t come up to the reserve.

The highest work sold was lot 44, a piece by Ben Enwonwu Untitled Landscape 1970, oil on canvas.

It went for N1,650,000. It was followed by Ben Osawe’s Untitled Sculpture 1971, Bronze and Images, oil on canvas by Bruce Onabrakpeya that went for N700,000.00 and N600,000.00 respectively.

Other works sold included works by Emmanuel Dudu, Nike and Tola, Rom Isichei, Jimoh Buraimoh etc. and pictures by Adolphus Opara. It was fun as the guest were treated with the best choice wine by the host, while the students of Nike Art Centre in Osogbo gorgeously dressed in their beautiful Adire clothes entertained the visitors with traditional dance.

The auction ended around 5.00 pm with another unique action by Mr Reuben Okundaye , the husband of Nike who as a true African man poured libation to the ancestors for a successful auction.

Commenting on the auction, Ms. Donnie Day Patriaca, the Business Manager of the centre said “while it was somewhat disappointing, it’s really not bad for a first time show. Also, I think our timing on the show being just a week after Easter hurt the attendance, and the attendance was extremely low for the number of invites sent.

It was a great learning experience for all the gallery employees who had never had an auction, including Nike & Reuben, and it was a great learning experience for me in having auctions in Lagos. That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and we will definitely be much wiser about timing and hiring the right person for auctioneer and the right printer.”

Chief Frank Okonta, AGAN president commended Mrs Nike for all her efforts towards putting arts in a proper perspective. “I am one of those who like to see innovations. Many people are afraid to start something, but Nike is not. Look at the building she built for arts and today she has brought most of the artists and gallery owners together for her auction, I love what she is doing, she is a credible woman.”

For the SNA chairman, Oliver Enwonwu, “I think it is a step in the right direction and I am very happy that we have a number of auctions going on in Nigeria. It is a good thing for arts because it gives more value to arts, it makes people to see the inherent values of arts as an investment potential. So, I think that in due time we will stabilize. Nike has done very well..”

For Engr. Yemisi Shyllon “This is her first auction. It is a learning process and am sure that the second auction will be better than this. The works that were packaged are okay. But in all, one should give kudos for a woman of substance who has made inroads into auction apart from the great inroad she has made in life.”

For Nike,“today’s event has really put me to know what to do next time. It is very good because if you don’t start something you wont know where you are going.”

Source: Vanguard

By Japhet Alakam

Bonham's Lot No: 4105Y

A Maori whalebone club, wahaika, Rotorua area, North Island, New Zealand with haliotis shell inlaid eyes. Length 15.5 inches.

Estimate: $2,000 - 3,000

Bonham's Lot No: 4049

A Santa Cruz Island currency roll, tevau, Solomon Islands. Height 15inches, width 33inches.

Estimate: $4,000 - 6,000

Bonham's Lot No: 4259

A Pende deformation mask, mbangu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Height 14 inches.

Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000

For a discussion of this type of mask, see Stother, Z.S., "Pende (Visions of Africa)", 1998, pp. 139-53: "Mbangu, the bewitched is one of the most widespread of the masks among the Central Pende. Several interpretations have been recorded about this mask; that his half black half white face addresses a human response to the infirmed thereby reaffirming strength and compassion."

Bonham's Lot No: 4073

A Hawaiian koa wood canoe constructed of koa wood except for outrigger; signed with engraved "P" on the hull.length. 25 feet, 3 inches.

Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000

Footnote: Originally made in Kona in the early 20th century, this canoe was one of seven or eight canoes purchased by the Queen's Surf restaurant on Waikiki Beach in the 1960's. Prior to installing the canoe, the Queen's Surf management had the canoes repaired by George Perry, hence the "P" on the manu.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This life-size canoe is located off site. The successful bidder will need to arrange shipping of the lot from its current location. For further information, please contact the department.

Bonham’s Lot No: 4005

A Dayak Kenyah/Kayan shield, klau or kliau, Borneo with painted decorations on both sides and inset human hair on the front. Height 49 inches. Old British Colonial Collection.

Estimate: $5,000 - 7,000

Marc & Denyse Ginzberg Collection Offered at Jacaranda Tribal

Two years ago, in September 2007, the Marc & Denyse Ginzberg Collection of African Forms went on sale at the Sotheby’s auction house in Paris. The auction was unlike anything that had ever been offered before at Sotheby’s – there was no figurative sculpture, no masks, and indeed little that would mark a traditionally inclined African art collection. Instead the collection celebrated the utilitarian and the nonfigurative; it celebrated the mastery and creativity that the African artist can bring to the everyday object. The objects in the collection have pushed the boundary between form and function, being at once fine works of art and useful household objects. After forming a full and comprehensive collection, writing a popular book called African Forms, and widely exhibiting the collection in museums and galleries, the Ginzberg’s were reluctantly ready to part with it. It’s no surprise that an extraordinary collection by renowned collectors should fetch €1,032,000, with many works fetching world record prices.

Marc & Denyse Ginzberg pictured

The Ginzberg collection brought much deserved attention to an under-recognized field of African Art and has brought recognition to some very fine, nonfigurative works. Jacaranda Tribal has been fortunate enough to debut a select exhibition of the Ginzberg Collection. The exhibition includes a range of objects – all of very fine museum quality – from snuff containers to jewelry, hats to weapons. We are delighted to be able to offer such a fine collection of works to the public. Be sure to check back at our blog often, as we will be posting several blogs on individual works in the coming weeks.

These highly decorated knives from Zimbabwe and the Congo are part of the collection offered by Jacaranda Tribal

Zemanek Tribal Art Auction Results

Zemanek held its tribal art auction last week in Würzburg, Germany. The auction had a disappointing turn out in terms of persons bidding and also the lots available for sale. The sale fared just slightly worse than their last auction in March 2009 - selling only 30% of all lots offered. The best pieces offered for sale were priced around €10,000 with none exceeding €13,000. The object shown below, lot 468 a Figurine of a titled lady, was the highest priced sale fetching a total of €13,000 - well below its low estimate of €18,000. With a sale price that much lower than a stated estimate, the object was most likely available for sale without a reserve price - a very rare occurence in the art world.


On a side note: in this most recent auction, the auction house offered a sale of 'Wunderkammer Naturalia' or objects such as rare skulls, bone fragments, fossilized eggs and such of interest to Natural History aficionados. The one below, lot 9, is the fossilized egg of a daroosaur. It is still available for sale for €400. There were some very interesting and strange pieces available and it is most certainly worth a look, if just for amusement.
Dori Rootenberg
JacarandaTribal.com

Christie's and Sotheby's Tribal Art Sale Results

Christie's tribal art auction had a lackluster performance last week. While 196 lots sold (around 64% of all lots offered), the sale garnered just €1,017,787. This is a trifle, considering that Sotheby's pulled in nearly the same amount of money from a single lot, Lot 87, a rare Kwele 'altar' figure from Gabon. While the lot was estimated between €450,000 and €600,000, it went on to fetch €971,950 at last week's sale. That price is just €45,837 short of Christie's total auction sale - maybe Sotheby's plan to be a high market, low volume auction seller really is working.

The highest priced and sold item at Christie's sale was Lot 144, a Fang Reliquary figure that went for €51,400. It had been estimated to fetch between €40,000 and €60,000. Neither of the two pieces (Lot 236 and Lot 311) that we profiled in last week's auction preview sold.

Sotheby's had a remarkably different auction. In addition to their million euro lot 87, the auction house sold 42 lots (or 66% of total lots offered) for a total price of €3,601,500 - over 3.5 times more than Christie's. 7 lots sold for over €100,000 while all but 8 lots sold for over €10,000.

Dori Rootenberg
JacarandaTribal.com

Sotheby's African and Oceanic Art Auction Preview

Hot off the heels of yesterday's Christie's sale in Paris, Sotheby's sale happens today. There are some interesting contrasts between the two sales from the top two auction houses in the world. Whereas Christie's had only two objects for sale above €100,000, Sotheby's is offering 12 of only a 65 lot sale (18%) above that price. In addition, 80% (or 52 lots) are for sale at an estimate above €10,000. But in the end it is the quality of the pieces and the interest in the room that will determine how well this sale goes. 

We'd like to highlight several pieces including Lot 87, a magnificent and rare Kwele 'altar' figure, Gabon. This lot is offered for sale between €450,000 and €600,000. It is an exceptionally fine piece and we believe there will be ample interest in it. 

Lot 89 is A fine and powerful Fang Mvai figure, Ntem Valley, Gabon. This object is estimated to fetch between €150,000 and €250,000.

Stay tuned for the results of the auction coming up. 

Dori Rootenberg

JacarandaTribal.com

Christie's Tribal Art Sale in Paris Preview

The Christie's Art Africain et Oceanien sale is going on at this very moment. The auction, comprised of 227 lots total, has some very fine pieces in the sale. A few we'd like profile include Lot 236, a Rare and Magnificent Maori Statue that is estimated to fetch between €150,000 and €250,000. I had the pleasure of seeing this piece in the Christie's showroom in New York and it is ever better looking in person than online. Chrisitie's has done a thorough write up in English on this object that might be of interest to some of you. 

In addition, Lot 311 is a rather fine piece. The object, an Important Songye Statute is estimated to fetch between €100,000 and €150,000. Notably, these are the only two objects in the sale that have estimates in the €100,000 range. And even more important, there are only 25 objects (only 9%) in total with estimates over €10,000. 

Stay tuned for the results of this auction and we'll be posting more soon. 

Dori Rootenberg

JacarandaTribal.com

A Talk With Susan Kloman

A few weeks ago we had the privilege to sit down and speak with Susan Kloman of Christie’s about tomorrow’s Art Africain et Océanien auction in Paris and other relevant topics. Susan is the International Specialist Head of Christie’s African and Oceanic Art department based in New York.

The following is a summary rundown of the talk, focusing on advice for collectors and potential collectors of African and Tribal Art. According to Ms. Kloman, the African and Tribal Art market is a “conoisseur’s market” – unlike the rather hasty collectors and purchasers in the contemporary market, those in our field are more contemplative, more professional, and more studied with intense “intellectual curiosity.” When compared to the contemporary or impressionist markets, the Tribal Art market is also more stable – there are “not the same peaks and not the same valleys” of the market. This means that while the contemporary art market saw a significant downturn earlier this year and many auctions took a turn for the worse, the Tribal Art market has remained significantly more level. She noted that in the field there is an identifiable “core group” of people who will and will be able to bid aggressively regardless of the economic climate for those rare and special pieces.

I asked her for some advice for new buyers of African and Tribal Art and those areas that she considered undervalued. Ms. Kloman’s biggest piece of advice is to “buy what you like.” But she did mention that Indonesian works are lacking in extensive education, museum shows, prominent collectors, dealers, and have a general lack of connoisseurship in the field. All this contributes to a lack of interest and significantly lowers prices for the quality of works available. She also mentioned works from South Africa (like those that we offer at Jacaranda Tribal) as well as Polynesian weapons and Tanzanian Objects have not yet received the widespread recognition for the quality available. With all of these objects, as well as those in fields that are doing extraordinarily well, she noted that there is a growing and “exponential divide between good and great pieces.” This means that for those truly great works that are becoming ever rarer, the prices will continue to rise so long as collecting interest remains strong.

Our conversation turned to price and collecting trends in the African and Tribal Art market. As any professional in the field, Ms. Kloman seemed hesitant to make any real predictions saying that “we’ll see where the trends go” but that there remains an “international market for African art” and collections have become quite the “mature audience.” I gathered this to mean that she believes the market will remain strong and continue increasing in price and significance. She added that this “mature audience” is clearly different from that in the 1950s and 1960s where there was “so much material available….[but] not the same kind of connoisseurship. [At that time] people were still educating themselves.” Now we have museums, auctions, impassioned collectors, dealers, and arts professionals like Ms. Kloman providing important and significant information for the collecting public. It’s no wonder that the collecting base has matured so greatly and that the market has done so well over the last few decades.

Stay tuned for our auction preview of the Christie’s auction, including more information from our talk with Ms. Kloman, coming up.

JacarandaTribal.com

Lempertz Tribal Art Auction Results

It's been quite a while since we wrote about the tribal art auction at the Lempertz Auction House and they took quite some time getting the results of the auction processed and up on the web. They're now available and so we wanted to do a quick rundown what turned out to be a rather lackluster auction. 

A total of 65 lots (of 189 lots or only 34%) sold on April 25, 2009 for a total of €275,950. Of the lots that we profiled in our last post -Lot 40, Lot 51, Lot 54, and Lot 60 - only Lot 54 actually sold, all others BIed or were Bought In by the house. Lot 54, the Fine Baule Mask pictured below, was estimated at €36,000 and actually sold for €37,000.

The highlight of the sold items was certainly Lot 183, "A Fine and Important Mangbetu Container" which was estimated to fetch between €40,000 and €60,000 and brought in €66,000 - one of the few pieces to exceed its high estimate. 

With the exception of these two pieces, there were few noteworthy pieces  that sold at the sale. All by the above two pieces were sold for prices €10,000 or below (with a low price of only €250).

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Sotheby's Tribal Art Auction Preview

Sotheby’s is offering a second tribal arts auction in addition to the Chaim Gross auction on 15 May. This sale will focus on African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian art – though a majority of the best pieces are Oceanic. The sale is slated to fetch more than $3 million if all lots meet their low estimate.

The sale consists of 94 objects including two very fine African pieces:

Lot 158: a Dogon, Wakara style figure from Mali. Within the broad corpus of Dogon statuary, examples of the Wakara sub-style are exceedingly rare. This work is estimated to bring between $200,000 and $300,000.

Lot 170: a Fang-Betsi reliquary head from Gabon, Africa. The work is estimated to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000. Sotheby’s catalog describes it as follows: “this magnificent head was identified by Perrois (1972: 333) as a typical example of the "school of Mitzic" a regional substyle of the Fang-Betsi. The offered lot is distinguished by the relatively small size of the face, the bulbous forehead, and a compressed profile, all combining to a maximum effect when seen from the front.”

This, as with the Chaim Gross auction, will be an interesting marker for the Tribal Art world. We shall see how the economy will bear on this latest American auction. We hope that with several fine pieces in the sale, that this sale will do better than previous auctions this spring. 

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Sotheby's Chaim Gross Tribal Art Auction Preview

Sotheby’s is offering a sale of tribal art from the collection of the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation. Chaim Gross, well known Modernist sculptor, and his wife Renee collected African and Oceanic tribal art during the 1940s and 1950s. They were some of the earliest and most enthusiastic collectors of tribal art in the United States. In the 1940s, Gross acquired the Crowninshield collection, formerly of Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield. Many of these works had been exhibited in the 1937 Brooklyn Museum exhibition “African Negro Art from the Collection of Frank Crowninshield."

Highlights of the sale include:

Lot 9: The Soninke Hermaphrodite Figure from Mali, possibly 12th to 15th Century, estimated at $400,000 to $600,000

Lot 25: A Senufo Kneeling Female Figure from the Ivory Coast purchased in the 1950s from Merton D. Simpson, estimated between $250,000 to $350,000

Lot 67: Ngbaka Male Ancestor Figure from the Ubangi region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the Crowninshield collection, estimated at $400,000 to $600,000

This should be an extraordinary sale with several exceptionally rare and high quality pieces. Because of the unexpectedly good results of the Sotheby’s Rosenthal sale in November 2008, the consignors must have very high expectations from this auction.

Works from the sale will be on exhibition at Sotheby’s New York from May 9-14, 2009 and the sale will take place on May 15 at 10.00am in New York.

More information is available in Sotheby’s press release. 

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Lempertz Tribal Art Auction

25 April 2009 marks the annual Lempertz Tribal Art Auction in Cologne, Germany. Lempertz is one of the most well recognized art auction houses in Europe and the oldest family-owned one in the world. It has a rich history in the tribal arts field.

189 lots will be auctioned off at the upcoming auction. Those interested may see the collection at the auction house in Cologne during the coming week and in Brussels the following week.

Preview in Cologne

Tuesday 14 April - Friday 17 April

10 am - 1 pm and 2 pm - 5.30 pm

Saturday 18 April

10 am - 4 pm

Preview in Brussels

Tuesday 21 April – Friday 24 April

10 am - 6 pm

Saturday 25 April

10 am - 1 pm

The highlight of the auction is Lot 183, a Fine and Important Mangbetu Container that is estimated to fetch between €40,000 and €60,000. The Mangbetu are a culturally sophisticated tribe located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This base of this cylindrical container takes the form of a round traditional Mangbetu stool. Its center is formed from bark and its base and the wooden lid is a finely carved human head with a heart-shaped face, pointed chin, a small 
protruding mouth, a slender 
nose and round convex eyes. The container represents the elegant face of a 
Mangbetu woman sitting on a title 
stool, wearing the typical basketry 
disc on her hair.

In addition to the Mangbetu container, there are several other lots of particular interest including Lot 40, a Fine Lobi/Birifor Pair of Figures estimated between €32,000 and €38,000.

Lot 51, a Fine Senufo Staff estimated between €20,000 and €25,000.

Lot 54, a Fine Baule Mask estimated at €36,000.

And Lot 60, a Fine Baule Female Figure estimated between €34,000 and €38,000.

Stay tuned for the results and our auction summary after 25 April.

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Zemanek-Münster Tribal Arts Auction Results

The bi-annual Zemanek-Münster tribal arts auction failed to attract the attention it has become accustomed to. Despite a few major pieces, the quality of objects up for auction this March was generally weaker than we have seen at this auction house in the past. With fewer very fine or museum-quality pieces, the auction house failed to sell a majority of the works.

Only 161 (or 36%) of the 448 pieces sold at the live auction. None of the three pieces that we profiled in our last post about the Zemanek auction sold and all are still available at the auction’s after-sale. A vast majority of the sold lots had a hammer price of €2,000 or below, and many lots sold for fewer than €1,000.

To some extent this drop in quality can be attributed to the general downturn in the world economy. Few collectors are willing to consign their works for auction as the chances of having a work “burned” (or go unsold at auction) are increased. With less access to museum-quality or very fine pieces, the auction quality as a whole has been hurt.

There were just a few notable exceptions:

Lot 125, a standing male ancestor figure called a “Blolo Bian” sold for €22,000. The types of pieces are private sculptures that would have been kept in a sleeping chamber and would have received sacrificial offerings.

Lot 224, a Headdress from Igbo, Nigeria sold for €10,000. The piece is a “gentle "ekpe" ancestor headdress” which is identified by its calm, small-featured face. These types of headdresses are thought to represent the wives of the fierce elephant and monkey spirits.

In both these cases, the quality was of a higher standard than seen across the board at this auction. In a better economic time, there would have been more and better pieces like these. While we are still looking forward to the results of the after-sale which, in poor economic times, may fare as well as a live auction.

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com