114
as Du Chaillu’s publications on Africa predate
the Marche–du Compiègne expedition.
De Compiégne notes that at the time of publication
in 1875, the fi gure belonged to a Mr.
Pilastre. E. Pilastre was a Le Havre–based merchant
with trading interests in coastal Gabon at
Wézè in the northern part of the Ogooué delta
(fi g. 10),16 “who assisted them on their journey.”
17 The fi gure was passed on to him, perhaps
as a gift in recognition of his support.18 Little
information seems to be recorded about Pilastre,
save that he ran one of four major trading posts
in Gabon at the time, which he started in the
1850s.19 He is said to have returned to Le Havre
after thirty years.20
From Pilastre the fi gure’s next documented stop
was the Orle Collection.21 The paucity of information
about this collection may indicate it was
not dedicated to non-Western art. From there, as
indicated on its base, it went to Parisian dealer
Charles Ratton (1895–1986), with whom it was
assigned number 173. Ratton was licensed as an
art dealer in 1927 and 173 is a low inventory
number, indicating that he had the piece early in
his career.22
From Ratton it went to Dr. Gaston Durville
(1887–1971), a colorful fi gure, to say the least
(fi g. 13). He was a vocal proponent of natural
healing, hypnotism, psychic infl uence, and nudism,
to name just a few areas, and he published
extensively on these subjects. In the early 1930s
he became interested in African art, especially
that of the Fang, and a surprising number
of Fang sculptures today bear his provenance,
which is often indicated by a distinctive label
with a circular graphic (fi g. 12), though it is absent
on this sculpture.23
FIG. 9 (left):
“My fi rst gorilla.”
From Paul Belloni du Chaillu,
Explorations and Adventures in
Equatorial Africa, British original
edition, p. 71.
FIG. 10 (below):
The commercial
headquarters of the Pilastre
company, Gabon.
Engraving from L’Illustration, Journal
Universel, January 20, 1866.
OBJECT HISTORY
avec le coiffe de fête, collection Charles Ratton,
no. 173” (ancestor post top, Female Fang Statue
with festive coiffure, Charles Ratton Collection,
no. 173) and “Ce beau fétiche Fang est la
première Fange reproduite. Elle fi gure dans le
livre de Du Chaillu sur le Gabon” (This beautiful
Fang fetish is the fi rst Fang published. It appears
in Du Chaillu’s book on Gabon).
Ratton we will address below, but Paul Belloni
Du Chaillu (c. 1831–1903) is remembered
as an early explorer of Africa but, according to
K. David Patterson, was motivated largely by
his interest in big-game hunting (fi g. 9), though
this should not diminish his contribution to history.
His father started a trading post in Gabon
in 1845, and Du Chaillu worked with him there
from 1848–1852. He returned to Gabon in 1855.
Drawing upon his father’s extensive connections
in the region, he spent the next four years studying
the “superstitions, customs, and modes of
life of the black tribes” and also shooting gorillas.
He returned in 1863 and, after many delays,
went back into the interior in 1864, though
this expedition was to be short-lived.15 Exactly
which book the label references remains unclear,