African Tribal Ceramics Exhibition in Chicago

The Douglas Dawson Gallery, a Chicago-based gallery specializing in ancient and historical non-Western art, is set to open a new exhibition of African ceramics on Thursday, 24 April 2009. This will be the gallery’s fourth major exhibition on the subject.

While much research remains to be done, African ceramics have been getting more attention of late and have emerged as a new and dynamic area of collecting. Ceramics offer an alternative to the new collector as better-known African tribal artifacts, such wood sculptures and figurines, have become increasingly rare and expensive.

The gallery has already contributed significant scholarship to the under-researched field and has produced another catalog for the forthcoming show.

In addition to the show’s opening and the production of the catalog, the gallery has invited William Itter, long time African ceramics collector and Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts at Indiana University, to speak. Professor Itter has built one of the most comprehensive collections of African ceramics in the world and is an expert in the field. The talk will be held Tuesday 12 May at 6.30pm at the gallery.

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

CT Scanning of Tribal Antiquities

On Thursday, February 28, 2008 I attended a fascinating lecture by Dr. Marc Ghysels and Kristina van Dyke. The lecture was part of the 2008 lecture series presented by the Museum for African Art in New York.

Dr. Ghysels (ghysels@scantix.com) , a Belgian radiologist and son of the noted tribal jewelry dealer Colette Ghysels, is using CT scanning to examine 12th - 15th century terra cottas from Jenne (Inland Niger Delta of Mali). Many of the scans are of objects from the Menil Collection, Houston of which Kristina van Dyke is the Associate Curator.

As I understand it, thermoluminescence (TL) testing is not always helpful in authentication. Sophisticated fakers can take portions of old terra cottas (or crush them entirely) and reconstitute them into new objects, thus passing a TL test as the ceramic is old although the object is not.

CT scanning may be performed on ivory, wood and terra cotta and is non-invasive.

Dr. Ghysels performs individual CT scans for $1,600 per scan and provides a written report for each scan. If you are purchasing an expensive object, this may be a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Daniel
JacarandaTribal.com