22
ART IN MOTION
BELOW:
Lower part of a staff god,
atua rakau.
Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
Collected in the 1860s.
Est. 350,000–450,000 euros.
BOTTOM LEFT: Standing fi gure.
Bembe, DR Congo.
Ex Schindler Collection, New York.
Est. 700,000–1,000,000 euros.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Pair of dance
crests, chi wara. Bamana, Mali.
Ex Maurice Nicaud, France.
Est. 80,000–120,000 euros.
All to be offered by Binoche et Giquello
at the Hôtel Drouot in Arts d’Afrique et
d’Océanie, March 21, 2018.
Sales at Binoche
PARIS—Auctioneers Binoche et Giquello
are preparing two sales to be held on
March 20 and 21, 2018, at the Hôtel
Drouot, which afi cionados would be
well advised to look out for. The fi rst
auction will be the second part of the
dispersal of a New York private collection
of Pre-Columbian art, the fi rst
part of which was offered with enormous
success in March of 2017 at the
Drouot and brought in some 3 million
euros in total sales with only one of the
sixty-eight lots remaining unsold. The
March 20 sale, offered under the
expertise of Jacques Blazy, will
feature seventy pieces. The collection
was assembled over the
last thirty years, and the objects
in it illustrate the great art traditions
of many South and Mezoamerican
regions. Mexico will
be represented by an anthropomorphic Mezcala fi gure
from the state of Guerrero, a Preclassic period
Chupícuaro fi gure, and a Maya codex vase with two
scribes painted on it. The highlight of the sale is a
ceremonial paddle from the Ica Valley dating to the
fi rst half of the fi rst millennium. It is just one of many
works from Peru, including Chavin, Paracas, Mochica,
and Nazca funerary vases.
The sale on March 21 will be devoted to the arts
of Africa and Oceania. About 100 lots have been selected
from prestigious collections for the occasion.
Offered under the expertise of Patrick Caput and
Bernard Dulon, the estimates for these objects range
from 1,000 to 1,000,000 euros, but they all share
the highest standards of quality and taste. The arts
of West Africa will be particularly well represented.
Among them will be a pair of major Bamana chi wara
crests from Mali, formerly in the Maurice Nicaud Collection,
which related to another pair that belonged
to Nelson A. Rockefeller. Other highlights of this sale
are a Bembe fi gure from the DR Congo, formerly
in the Schindler Collection; a Yaure mask with the
Nelson Rockefeller provenance; and, for Oceania, an
impressive Iatmul suspension hook from the Middle
Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea.
LEFT: Codex vase. Maya,
Mexico. AD 600–900.
Est. 150,000–200,000 euros.
RIGHT: Ceremonial paddle.
Ica Valley, Peru.
AD 1000–1530.
Est. 200,000–300,000 euros.
BELOW: Female fi gure.
Chupícuaro, Mexico.
400–100 BC.
Est. 120,000–150,000 euros.
All to be offered by Binoche et Giquello
at the Hôtel Drouot in Arts précolombiens,
March 20, 2018.