Tribal Art News no 2: Preview of the Sotheby’s Jean-Paul Chazal sale, a sleeper returns, record Maori sales and more…
30 April 2024: Sotheby’s Arts d’Afrique de la Collection Jean-Paul Chazal Auction Preview
Sotheby’s has announced their auction of the collection of the renowned collector Jean-Paul Chazal to take place on the 30 April 2024, in collaboration with François de Ricqlès Conseil and with the support of dealers Pierre Amrouche and Alain de Monbrison.
Jean-Paul Chazal is a collector with a particularly refined eye and taste and this is reflected in the coherence and quality of the collection that is presented. It consists of mostly West African pieces with a particular focus on exquisite miniature metal objects from the Ashanti, Lobi, Kulango and Dogon, amongst other cultures. There is no reserve on the lots, which should result in heavy bidding, and is pleasing to see at an auction of this quality.
Highlights of the auction include Lot 9, the beautiful and small Bamana Chiwara, (estimated at €40 000 -€60 000, which is ex Dr Stephen Chauvet, Lot 29, an iconic Bamana Ngonmask (est €300 000 – € 500 000), ex Pierre Harter, and Lot 41, the Baga Elek Headdress (est €80 000 – €120 000).
The estimates on all of the pieces are extremely reasonable and the variety of objects on offer combined with the lack of reserve prices gives collectors from all levels an opportunity to acquire a couple of top pieces for their collection.
There is apparently going to be a simultaneous online auction with another selection from Chazal’s collection but that catalogue was not online yet.
Other Tribal Art Auctions
Christie’s Online Auction – Living with African and Oceanic Arts: 18-30 April 2024. A general online-only sale with some very high quality works (and a few puzzling ones). Lot 85, a Marquesas u’u, is super attractive and great value at a low estimate of €20 000.
Bonhams African & Oceanic Art: 1 May 2024. I find this catalogue slightly disappointing, with many of the African works seemingly estimated at retail prices and lacking oomph. There is an exceptional Tongan club covered with glyphs, and my personal favourite lot is Lot 102, the very rare snuff container/comb combo, estimated at $5000-$7000, that comes from the collection of Sheikh Al Thani and will surely far exceed the estimate
Paris Tribal: 23 – 28 April 2024
The annual Paris Tribal show starts on the 23 April 2024, featuring 41 top dealers from around the world. These shows are a great way to view thematic exhibitions and a wide variety of curated collections from the world’s best African and Oceanic Art dealers.
You can view the Paris Tribal online catalogue here
A sleeper Easter Island Moai Moko returns
In September last year a fantastic sleeper lot appeared on Interencheres.com at an auction house with an estimate of €100-€200. The 19th century or earlier Easter Island moai moko (lizard) was described simply as a wooden carving. It had a bit of damage on the nose, maybe due to rodents, and an unusual four pointed star glyph engraved on the belly, as well as fantastically carved hands. These are amongst the most sought after objects in the Oceanic art world and it was stunning to see an unknown one appear at auction like this. I suspect many eyes lit up, including mine.
Unfortunately the dreams of an amazing score by any auction pickers were crushed when the lot was withdrawn in October a day or two before the auction. I suspected that we would see this moai moko again and it didn’t take long…
This moai moko has now been listed for auction on the 28th April at Alexandre Landre with an estimate of €70 000 – € 90 000 along with a CIRAM report confirming that it is carved from Toromiro wood and stating the age as 17th or 18th century. It also appears to have had a bit of a polish, though I prefer how it looked at the original auction . Even though this estimate is 700 times the original estimate I expect bidding to blow way past this and head into the six figures.
Notable auction results
Zemanek Münster – 102nd Auction Results: 13 April 2024
The Zemanek Münster auction that was previewed two weeks ago was a notable success on the Oceanic side with some very good results on the ex Ludwig Bretschneider objects, including Lot 21, The Malagan Figure fetching €170 000 hammer (excl commission), Lot 23, the New Ireland friction drum fetching €45 000 hammer, and lot 26, a Marquesas Island u’uclub fetching €100 000 hammer.
Things seemed to be a lot more difficult on the African art side, with many objects passed or selling for the low estimate. This bears out the feeling amongst many dealers and auction houses that the middle market for African art is really struggling at the moment.
Dunbar Sloane – The Epsom Collection of Taonga results: 19 March 2024
Dunbar Sloane had an extremely successful sale, setting a NZ auction record for an Oceanic Art auction, with a total of over 1 million NZ dollars. Record prices were achieved for a Hei tiki (NZD$55 000 hammer) and an amazing 19th century Kahu Kiwi feather cloak (NZD$142 000 hammer) .
New Zealand buyers have been increasingly active in bidding on Maori objects (both in NZ and internationally) and the prices achieved have been rising steadily. It is really encouraging to see these kinds of sales happening and it is an absolute vindication of the collector and object registration policies enacted by the New Zealand government to protect and catalogue Taonga tūturu.
Useful Resources
The UK Science Museum Online Collection
The UK Science Museum maintains a globally important, diverse collection of 7.3 million items from various fields including science, technology, engineering and medicine. Their online collections contain a number of Oceanic and African objects, mostly ethnographic in nature.
Nevertheless, there are treasures to be found in this collection. For example, this fantastic Lulua miniature figure (attributed to the Tetela culture on the site). It’s a collection well worth browsing. All of their collection data and images, where possible, are made available under a Creative Commons licence.
UK Science Museum Collection Online Search Link
Other Art News
Christie’s withdraws Greek vases from auction over links to convicted dealer. Dr Christos Tsirogiannis strikes again, pointing four vases out to Christie’s that could be traced to Gianfranco Becchina, who was convicted in 2011 of illegally dealing in antiquities.
Auction of African Art Secretly Stored in Houston Shed Canceled After Purported Owner Files for Bankruptcy. Yet another development in this never-ending saga. Despite being described as ‘priceless’, anyone who has seen videos of the collection would know that the real scandal is that hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer money were paid in storage fees for this junk.
Feedback
Any comments, auction results, articles or news to share? Please email me at hello@tribalartnews.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Have a great week!
Jaxon Rice
Johannesburg, South Africa.
