More than 60 galleries and dealers from the United States and abroad — significantly fewer than last year’s 76 — are installed in the 69th Regiment Armory for the 15th New York International Tribal & Textile Arts Show. Missing from the floor are some of the high-end European dealers in African art, and the English textile dealers, but there is still the usual bounty of lavish textiles, sculpture and statuary, exotic curios and jewelry.
An emphasis on extraordinary textiles from indigenous and precolonial cultures is a hallmark of this show. It is true again this year, with outstanding Central Asian material at Gail Martin Gallery; a selection of colorful Persian and Syrian carpets and utilitarian bags at Alberto Levi; and a pair of heavily beaded Northwest Coast Indian leggings at Myers and Duncan. It is all presented with deft professionalism and backed up with some useful educational material.
Not too many dealers have shipped big, expensive stone sculpture, given the economy, but there are one or two monumental wooden pieces. For a reminder of the role of religion in daily life in Africa, stop by Dave DeRoche to see a late-19th-century “rhythm pounder,” probably Senufo, from Ivory Coast. This imposing wooden sculpture of a woman was used to pound the earth each spring to enhance the soil’s fertility and ensure a good harvest.
As always, there is a small but fine selection of Pacific Island material. Lewis/Warra has an unusually ornate, possibly mid-19th-century Malagan ceremonial mask from New Ireland, a part of New Guinea, while the Thomas Murray display includes some top masks from the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea, one shaped like a bird’s beak. They are part of a group of a dozen beautiful Oceanic carvings from a single California collection put up for sale.
For pure fascination and enjoyment, visitors might like to check out the hand-painted wooden Egyptian sarcophagus lid, about 1069-702 B.C., at Arte Primitivo. It is in great condition. Equally enchanting is a minor retrospective of paintings by self-taught artists at Cavin-Morris, including a delightfully simple painting of a mule by Bill Traylor, the Alabama-born former slave and outsider artist, that was drawn on a Montgomery, Ala., sidewalk in the 1940s.
There is lots of other strange and wonderful stuff in the show, though some of it is hiding in cases, so you really have to take the time to look. Clam Galerie has a Mayan poison bottle that is close to 1,400 years old, while Kip McKesson has a carved divining staff used by a Tanzanian witch doctor to make the rain come, ward off evil spirits, see the future or even frighten enemies on the eve of battle. Who wouldn’t want to hold the staff?
Another revelation is the range and beauty of native jewelry in gold, silver, tin, shell, stone and other materials. What an obvious inclusion this material is, although there has not been so much of it at the fair in the last few years. The jewelry has an undeniable beauty, so I would not be surprised if more finds its way into future shows. Let’s hope so.
The show is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. onFriday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday; (212) 532-1516, caskeylees.com; $20.
