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Spring at Christie’s, Paris
PARIS—Christie’s, Paris, the market leader of public
tribal art sales after the success of its 2018 sales, is in
the process of preparing for its various-owners sale on
April 10, 2019. While the list of lots that will make up
the event has not been fi nalized as we go to press,
we have confi rmed that three particularly interesting
groups of pieces will be offered. The fi rst is a group
of about twenty objects from the Sepik River area of
Papua New Guinea—masks, hooks, fi gures, etc.—
that embody the power, purity of line, and beautiful
detail work that are characteristic of the artworks in
the Dutch collection that was assembled over the last
thirty years and attest to the sensitivity and refi nement
of this collector’s eye. The second is composed
of ten North American objects, including Yup’ik masks
and an Inuit parka that belonged to Franco-Russian
painter Antoine Tzapoff, who is well known for his
striking portraits of Indians that were the subject of a
recent exhibition at the Musée du Nouveau Monde de
La Rochelle. The last group of pieces they have shared
with us is made up of about ten African works that refl
ect not only the taste of the Parisian collector—identifi
ed only as “Monsieur F”—who consigned them
but also that of gallery owner Maine Durieu from
whom the pieces were acquired and whose passing
some three years ago still leaves an immense void in
the tribal art world.
We can also confi rm that a sale of some 140 lots of
Pre-Columbian material will be held by Christie’s on
April 9. It will include an interesting group of Mezcala
pieces that were in the Felix and Heidi Stoll Collection
in Basel, as well as a selection of Maya ceramics from
various owners.
LEFT: Mask.
Yuat River, Middle Sepik,
Papua New Guinea.
Wood, pigment. H: 27 cm.
Ex Walter Bondy; Jacob Epstein,
London.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris, on
10 April 2019.
Estimate on request.
BOTTOM LEFT: Female
fi gure attributed to the
Gohitafl a Master. Guro, Côte
d’Ivoire.
Wood. H: 46.5 cm.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris, on
10 April 2019.
Estimate on request.
RIGHT: Standing fi gure, uli.
New Ireland.
Wood, pigment. H: 133 cm.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris, on
10 April 2019.
Estimate on request.
BELOW: Group of Akan gold
objects from the Hartmann
Collection.
To be offered by Zemanek, Würzburg,
9 March 2019, est. between 1,000
and 4,000 euros, depeinding on piece.
and illustrate the mastery of goldworking techniques
of the peoples of Côte d’Ivoire. These small objects are
insignia of high status and symbols of the vital force,
or kra, that animates the world, and they constitute a
sparkling microcosm inhabited by animals, small fi gures
with stylized traits, and both sacred and profane
artworks.
Auction of Akan Art
WÜRZBURG—German auction house Zemanek-Münster’s
spring sale has been scheduled for March 9,
2019, and its offerings will consist primarily of Akan
objects from the collection of well-known Swiss antiquarian
book dealer Roland Hartmann (1922–2007).
The pendants, plaques, rings, and other fi ne works
that will be offered were created in royal workshops
ART IN MOTION