Tribal Art Sale at Skinner

On November 7 in Boston, Skinner will hold an eclectic auction of American Indian and ethnographic art including objects collected by Captain William Trotter during his voyages in the Pacific and Atlantic between 1781 and 1796. Included will be a rare eight-foot-long Tongan spear club presented to Trotter by a Tongan king during a re-provisioning stopover in 1796 and an Aleutian Island straw purse produced by a culture known for its exceptionally fine twining. Trotter’s ship logs from these voyages were recently sold by Skinner for $22,140.

View the online catalogue.

Aleutian Islands purse  -  Late 19th century

Hide painted by Chiricahua Apache Naiche  -  Late 19th/early 20th century

Tongan spear-club  -  Mid-18th century

Navajo Third Phase chief's blanket  -  Ca 1870s

Dag knife  -  Mid-19th century

Kiowa man's painted hide shirt  -  Late 19th century

Images courtesy of Skinner

Tribal Art Sale at Heritage

On November 6, 2015, Heritage will hold a sale featuring American Indian, Pre-Columbian, and tribal art. The Pre-Columbian element of the sale is strong in Central and South American goldwork and other jewelry, and Native American beadwork, pipes, and jewelry will also be offered. The centerpiece of the sale will be the Howard and Catherine Feldman Collection, which features more than 350 masks, largely from Mexico and the Himalayas, as well as a substantial number of Congo maskettes. 

View the online catalogue.

Delaware bandolier bag  -  Ca 1840

Plateau hide dress  -  Ca 1880

Images courtesy of Heritage Auction

Tribal Art Fair 2015

The thirteenth annual Amsterdam Tribal Art Fair will be held from October 30–November 1 in the De Duif church, a mid-nineteenth century Catholic edifice that is now used to host a variety of events. Twenty galleries, both Dutch and from abroad, will be on hand to present a large selection of masks, figures, ornaments, textiles, and utilitarian objects from Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas. The arts of Indonesia and New Guinea historically have been especially well represented in this show, making it a point of honor for dealers to bring increasingly better pieces. The show is always an interesting event both for experienced collectors as well as for those who are just beginning to explore this vast and fascinating field.

View the official TAF website.

Art Berbère, Regards Sur Une Collection

Until November 1, Espace 251 Nord in Liege is featuring Art Berbère, regards sur une collection, an exhibition offering a unique opportunity to discover the rich Amazigh (Berber) patrimony through the exceptional Lucien Viola collection of antique weavings and clothing for ceremonial and daily use. For the first time in Europe, architectural elements and exceptional Berber ceilings from the 20th century will be featured as well. This installation allows for the discovery of some of the myths that surround and explain these North African masterworks, retracing the exact origins of each weaving.

Visit the Espace 251 Nord website.

Boy's cape, akhnif  -   Collection Lucien Viola -  Photo by Philippe De Formanoir

Tribal Art Auction at Zemanek-Münster

Zemanek-Münster will present their 81st sale of tribal art and artifacts in Würzburg on October 31.  The  large auction will present a wide array of sculptural works, highlighting a number of beautiful figures from West and Central Africa. Asian art will also be included alongside traditional works from Oceania, the Himalayas and elsewhere.

View the online catalogue.

Commemorative figure of a king  -  Bangwa, Cameroon Grassfields

Mask, dyodyomini  -  Dogon, Mali

Reliquary figure, mbulu ngulu  -  Kota, Gabon

Power figure, nkisi  -  Kongo/Mayombe/Vili, D.R. Congo

Images courtesy of Zemanek-Münster

Interwoven: Native Californian Basketry Arts from the Missions Forward

Drawn primarily from mission collections, Interwoven presents over 50 baskets created by Native American Californians, including the world-renowned Chumash and Pomo weavers. With a focus on baskets made during the Mission era (1769-1830s) to the early 20th century, Interwoven includes functional baskets such as parching trays and cradleboards as well as baskets made exclusively for trade with Europeans, all demonstrating exemplary basketry arts. This remarkable collection represents numerous tribal traditions and reveals the complex artistic sensibilities, inventiveness and ingenuity of Native weavers working with natural materials. Baskets tell a remarkable story of cultural continuity and survival despite conquest, environmental interruptions, suppressive policies and huge population loss. The weavers’ knowledge of the environment and their exemplary artistry have been passed from generation to generation despite these historic and cultural intrusions.

Visit the USF website.

Photos courtesy of the University of San Francisco

Himalaya Tribal

Despite its rugged terrain, the Himalaya chain, which spreads over five countries (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet), is home to sixty-five million people. While the range’s massive size (more than 2,500 kilometers long) has been instrumental in preventing China and India from directly influencing one another, the “Roof of the World” is a place where internal interactions have developed and where both unique and hybrid cultures have sprung up because of migrations and the adaptation of regional traditions to local ecosystems. The little-known art of the Himalayan peoples reflects the diversity of the area particularly well. Himalaya Tribal, an exhibition in its final weeks at the Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Asie de Vichy, is a fine introduction to the creations of these peoples and features magnificent objects that tell the stories of origin myths, seasonal festivities, and funerary and magical rites. Highlights of the exhibition include a magnificent Bhairava mask from the Kathmandu Valley, a striking Magar shaman’s suit of armor, a protective figure from the Terai Valley, and a smiling Tibetan citipati mask.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Image courtesy of Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Asie de Vichy