By Carter B. Horsley

Once again Sotheby's has put its Pre-Columbian Art auction into the same catalogue as its African and Oceanic Art auction. See the separate article on the Pre-Columbian Art auction that occurs at 2PM November 11, 2004.

This morning auction November 11, 2004 at Sotheby's of African and Oceanic Art is highlighted by a spectacular flute-stopper from New Guinea, a magnificent Yoruba Ram's Head Altarpiece, an impressive Benin bracelet, and a Kongo power figure.

Lot 22 is a magnificent flute-stopper in the form of a male figure with a fabulous feathered headdress from the Lower Sepik River, Yuat River, Biwat region of New Guinea.

According to the catalogue entry for this lot, the Biwat carved "elaborate sacred flutes, haiyang, sometimes up to eight to ten feet in length." "Aggressively stanced figures such as this," it continued, "were inserted at the top of the flute when not it use. It was these flutes which the Biwat themselves considered their most important and sacred objects. Their social, ceremonial and religious significance was tremendous. Although several cults existed, these figures are often considered to be the children of the mother crocodile spirit, a powerful being that performed creative deeds in primeval times and let initiates be reborn by symbolically swallowing and throwing out the candidates."

The 18 ½-inch-high figure has bowed legs and a salient head with a beard inset with plaited fiber beside earrings inset with conus and haliotis shell. He has an unturned mouth baring teeth and crescent-shaped eyes inlaid with haliotis and his head is surmounted, according to the catalogue, "by a diadem of cassowary feathers."

The lot, which is described in the catalogue as "superb," has an estimate of $280,000 to $350,000. It sold for $276,800 including the buyer's premium as do all the results mentioned in this article.

One of the best Oceanic works is Lot 4, a "rare" male altar figure from the Leti Islands, Southeast Moluccas. The 18-inch-high figure is seated on a square base with exaggerated legs with his folded arms resting on his knees. The highly stylized figure has a fragmentary flange at the crown above the quite beautiful Modiglianesque face. According to the catalogue, this figure would "have formed the crest of an elaborate altar constructed for periodic fertility rites in Leti villages." Today, it continued, "the old figures have become extremely rare." The lot has a modest estimate of $7,000 to $10,000. It sold for $25,200.

Another fine and highly stylized lot is Lot 5, a "rare" Batak pair of male and female figures. The male figure is 18 ¼ inches high and the female figure is 15 ½ inches high. The pair's provenance is Mathias Komor of New York. With slender bent arms with claw-like hands, the couple has considerable charm and an Oriental sensibility. The male has a topknot and the female has a striated coiffure. The lot has a modest estimate of $5,000 to $7,000. It sold for $8,400.

Lot 13 is a "fine" ancestor figure from New Guinea, Papuan Gulf, Kerewa. The 39 ¾-inch high, flat figure has an openwork body with a torso framed by two extensions. These agiba were hung from the rafters and a platform was placed beneath them to support suspended skulls. The catalogue observed that "although it should not be ruled out that heads of relatives were hung on the agiba, most skulls were taken during headhunting expeditions." "Each time a skull was added," it continued, "the agiba was painted to reactivate its power and reinforce its sacred nature." The very handsome lot has a conservative estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $25,200.

Lot 17 is a dance headdress from New Ireland that is 17 3/4 inches long. "This impressive mask," the catalogue maintained, "is a particularly fine example with thoughtful execution of proportions, surface and detail. The malangan tatanua masks are danced in ceremonies to honor the dead." The lot has an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $24,000.

Lot 14 is a large and dramatic New Caledonian, East Coast, Houailou Region mask that was once in the collection of Mistinguett, the famous French chanteuse. The "fine and rare" mask is of the apouema type, the name of a god who lives near the water and, according to the catalogue, "this spirit is mercurial and can change from a quiet water entity into an evil spirit which rises out of the water when irritated by intruders. The mask, which is 21 ½ inches high, has telescoping eyes and a mouth encircled by resin and remnants of abrus seeds. The lot has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 100 is described in the catalogue as an "Important Bangwa Commemorative Figure of a King." The 41 3/8-inch high figure, who is seated on a stool, has an "estimate on request." It sold for $1,072,000.

Sotheby's holds the record for a Bangwa commemorative figure of a queen, which was formerly in the Helena Rubenstein and Harry Franklin Collections, $3.4 million. "In the same celebrate tradition of representing royalty as the queen figure now in the Musée Dapper, Paris, the king," a Sotheby's press release stated, "is adorned with royal accoutrements including a drinking horn and pipe in his hands, a series of ivory bracelets, a beaded color and a ceremonial headdress."

The catalogue entry for this lot noted that Sotheby's had auctioned November 18, 2000, a "related, large-scale, highly expressionistic, Cameroon figure carved in the nineteenth century, also for a royal treasury, but from the Eastern Bangwa area."

The City Review's coverage of that auction provided the following commentary:

"Lot 109 is perhaps the most dramatic work in the auction as it is a 55-inch-high Eastern Bangwa hermaphrodite figure whose erosion due to the elements has removed its patination but left a marvelously imposing figure with an animated and 'aggressive' facial expression and a greatly extended stomach that is meant probably to represent pregnancy, but from the site also conjures a great 'beer belly.' The catalogue quotes one expert as noted that this piece 'does not come from the well known Bangwa tribe, but rather from the Kingdom of Bangwa…founded three centuries ago by the great hunter called Njongvum.'

'Before the great fire of 1958 in the Bangwa Kingdom, one could still see the commemorative statues of the old royalty at the palace. Unfortunately, the fire destroyed the whole treasure except the present great hermaphrodite figure which had been carved in the 19th Century by Fotcheka. In the Bangwa Kingdom hermaphrodite figures have the same function as for the Bangwa peoples of the Fontem Basin. They were exhibited in a public place on specific occasions, and were believed to cause infertility to the men or women who had transgressed the orders of the King/God." The lot has a conservative estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. It sold for $1,050,750, which brought forth a round of applause in the medium-size auction room."

Lot 59 is a "fine," large and dramatic Senufo "firespitter" mask. The 46-inch-long mask has a bovine face with horns at the snout with a bird and bowl at the crest of the forehead and long curved horns above the ears. It has a conservative estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $21,600.

Another Senufo object is Lot 50, an equestion figure that is 16 inches high. It has a delightfully disproportionate sense of scale and is very stylized. "The bold, exaggerated forms executed with an economy of expression," the catalogue noted, "places this figures origin in the Central region of Senufo artistic production, centered around the Korhogo district." It has an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000. It sold for $16,800.

Lot 13 is a "rare and important" Benin ivory bracelet that is dated circa 16th Century. The 5 1/8-inch long bracelet is, according to the catalogue, "of extremely thin hollowed cylindrical form with indigenous repairs, and highly decorated on the exterior with a repertoire of complex Benin royal motifs including two images of a central king or Oba figure (identified by his mudfish legs) flanked by two high ranking chiefs or warrior figures horizontally, and alternating with two slightly similar groupings of a central Oba figure supported by attendants, all dressed in coral beads, and interspersed with a highly complex series of symbolic Benin royal images including tortoises, fish, leopards, kola nuts, elephant and crocodile heads, snakes biting snails, birds and leaves." The bracelet was once in the collections of Jacob Epstein of London and Carlo Monzino. There are six known bracelets of the same style and age. The lot has a conservative estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $220,800.

The most striking work in the auction is Lot 79, a "fine and rare" Yoruba, Owo region, ram's head altarpiece that is 14 inches high. The catalogue notes that "only about twenty examples [are] known." The finely sculpted work has a superb patina was exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1996 and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1998. It has a modest estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $57,000.

Lot 89 is an impressive Fon power figure from the Abomey region. It is 19 inches high and was once in the collection of Ben Heller. It has an estimate of $6,000 to $9,000. It sold for $7,200.

Another power figure is Lot 110. This one comes from the Kongo and is 11 1/2 inches high. Once in the collection of J. J. Klejman, it has an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000. It sold for $45,000. "This figure," the catalogue observed, "exhibits a sensitive combination of expressionism and pathos. Kongo power figures, nkisi, were used in cooperation with a spiritual healer, nganga, to invoke positive and negative forces on behalf of a client seeking his services....This figure is unusual in that the left arm appears to have been removed or amputated, with a resinous bundle and a series of small blades inserted at the tip."

Another fine object formerly in the collection of J. J. Klejman is Lot 117, a male ancestor figure, Pre-Bembe, Sikasingo. The 17 3/4 -inch high figure has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $72,000.

Lot 106 consists of four combs from Central Africa. The tallest is 8 1/4 inches high. Two come from Benelulua, one Lega and the fourth Yaka. The attractive lot has a modest estimate of $4,000 to $6,000. It sold for $13,200.

Lot 97 is a "fine" Mambila helmut mask that has "expressive volumetric features" and is 16 inches long. It has an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 126 is a lovely and "rare" Kuba female figure with an "exceptionally fine and worn deep brown surface that is covered with "elaborate incised, cross-hatched and geometric motifs." The sculpture, which is 17 inches high, has a conservative estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $39,000.

Other highlights include a "superb" Sango reliquary guardian figure, Lot 102, which had an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000 and sold for $48,000, and a "fine and rare" Central Vanuatu, Tongoa Island, bird figure, Lot 26, that is 88 inches wide and was a very abstract and beautiful, almost propeller-shaped, gable decoration at the apex of the entrance to a chiefly men's house and had an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000 and sold for $72,000.