By Carter B. Horsley

This auction of African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art at Sotheby's November 17, 2006 is not large but it is full of interesting and good works.

One of the most striking as well as one of the smallest is Lot 330, a very beautiful Mezcala stone head, Type M24. It is dated Late Pre-Classic, circa 300-100 B.C. It is 4 1/2 inches long and has a conservative estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $19,200 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The catalogue notes that in their 1992 book, "Mezcala: Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico," Carlo Gay and Frances Pratt suggested that the work combines human and bat attributes, which was not unusual in Olmec art and "is thought to represent shamanic transformation, however it is a subject rarely seen in carvings form Mezcala."

The auction was not too successful with only 69.5 percent of the 233 offered lots selling for a total $3,686,940.

Lot 234 is a haunting Pentecost Island, Vanuatu mask that is 14 inches high and was collected the Rev. Alexander Morton between 1887 and 1892. The island of Penecost is also known as Raga and is in nortern Vanuatu which was formerly known as the New Hebrides. An essay in the catalogue by Julian Harding of London noted that "Densely forested and thinly populated, it is nown to the outside world mainly for the rare wood masks, called juban or hubwan, which were made in the south part of the island." "These dramatic masks...are among the rarest and most sought after of all Oceanic sculptures.....The present example which we may call the Morton mask displays enigmatic iconogaphy. Anthopomorphic in its features, a very narrow face is bisected by a protruding crescent nose, whle fin-like extensions flank deeply recessed eyes on each side. A thin horizontal mouth stands in contrast with a diaogonal axis connecting the eyes, producing a powerful, uncanny, almost hypnotic expression. These features combine to give the mask an extradinary intensity and gravitas. Remarkable in the Morton mask is the representation of the teeth with dots of gold paint. This is probably a later but genuine addition and suggests that the mask continued to be used for some time after first contact was made with Westerners."

The lkot has an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. It sold for $228,000 to a European private collector.

Lot 248 is a "superb" pair of figures from the Marquesas Islands. It is 61 1/8 inches high and was once in the collection of Ambrose Vollard, then Jos Hessel of Paris, then Jacob Epstein of London and the Carlo Monzino Collection.

The catalogue notes that the work follows "the traditional form of Marquesa architectural ornaments" and that large scale figures such as this "are more commonly found in stone." The entry also maintains that "the importance of these two impressive Marquesas figures lies as much in their sculpture and rarity as it does in their impact on the appreciation of Pacific art and the development of modern art." This lot for a while adorned Ambrose Vollard's cellar where he entertained andit was published by Paul Guillaume in 1917 on the occassion of his primitive art exhibition thta opened his gallery. The lot hs an estimtae of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $352,000, an auction record for a Marquesas Islands work of art.

In a catalogue essay on "Jacob Epstein and Carlo Monzino, two collectors ahead of their time," Jacob Epstein, a famous sculptor, is quoted as recalling that he first met Paul Guillaume in Paris in 1912 in Montmartre in a small attic room: "He started the vogue in African work. Of course, it was the artists who first saw the sculptural qaulities of African work, and they were followed by the dealers who saw money in it." The essay also quotes Carlo Monzino that "the culminating moment for me: the acquisition of the Jacob Epstein Collection in 1964. Many masterpiece from an unknown civilization, beloved by a genius sculptor, sold by his widow to purchase a villa at the shores of Lake Garda. And then the fascinating moments with the 'big old,' Charles Ratton...And the travels to Africa, together with Franco Monti. Love at first sight, for the 'negritude' - in all senses - heat, dust, chicken, dirt everywhere....But an irresistible fascination, so far away from the'exotic-charter'-style toursist." The essay notes that Epstein, who was born in the United States, but lived most of his life in England, died in 1959, aged seventy-nine and left behind "one of the greatest private collections of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, the Americas and the Classic world.

Monzino began buying art in 1952 at the age of 21 in London, concentrating first on Japanese art and then buying paintings by Jackson pollock, Sam Francis and Franics Bacon. In1958 he started collecting Pre-columbian, AFriacna, Oceaicn, Indonesian and Cycladic atty and in the 1974 he was able to buy about 40 percent of Epstein's collection.

Lot 258 is a large and "superb" Fang reliquary head that is 23 inches high and is from the Carlo Monzino Collection and was formerly owned by André Derain, the great Fauvist. The lot has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It failed to sell.

One of the most spectacular and stunning works in the auction is Lot 250, a Dayak funerary post that is 50 1/2 inches high. The highly weathered work was once in the Carlo Monzino Collection and has a conservative estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $36,000.

Lot 220 is a very animated and striking female figure from Madagascar, Sakalava, Vezo that is 20 inches high and Lot 221 is a more sedate female figure from the same area that is a half inch higher. The catalogue quotes an expert as stating that "The objects seem to come from one of the nine or so funerary sites inthe regionof Morondova on Madagascar's western coast." Each lot has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. Lot 220 sold for $45,000. Lot 221 failed to sell. Both lots were offered at the November 15, 2005 auction at Sotheby's when they each had estimates of $25,000 to $35,000 and each was passed at $22,500.

Lot 209 is a wonderful Ashanti female figure that is 18 inches high and notable for its striking coiffure of four spherical nobs that the catalogue suggests may be an "abstract representation of a group of terracotta pots carried by woman on their head." The lot has a modest estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 214 is an impressive and interesting Igbo, Ikenga shrine figurative group that is 37 1/2 inches high. The caryatid figure is seated on a tripod stool and holds a seated figure holding an inverted head. The work was once in the collection of Charles Ratton of Paris. The lot has an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000. It sold for $42,000.

Lot 206 is a "superb" Senufo female rhythm pounder that is 45 inches high. In commentary about the item in the catalogue, Burkhard Gottshalk observes:

"The Senufo are farmers living in northern Ivory Coast, southern Mali and southwestern Burkina Faso. Statues like the present example were displayed in the groves of the poro men's society and served both to spiritually protect members-to-be prior to their initiation as well as to physically commemorate notable ancestors.....During funerals of notable members they were laid out together with the deceased and, after a metaphysical seperation of body nad soul was believed to be complete, accompanied by the body to the tomb. During this last journey members of the poro carried the statues by holding them on their arms and periodically pounding them onto the ground to dispel evil spirits....The large statues, for which the present sculpture gives a good example, are rare because they were passed on from one generation to the next. When an iconoclastic religious movement called Massa emerged from Mali and reached the Senufo area in the early 1950s it was an important moment for collectors and dealers who in fact saved many of these sculptures from destruction....Today...[they] are venerated as icons of African art."

The lot has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 218 is an impressive and "important" Fang reliquary guardian figure that is 18 inches high and was once owned by Paul Guillaume, the Paris art dealer, and then by Maurice de Vlaminck, the artist. "It was Guillaume," the catalogue entry notes, "who believed that Fang statuary was the essence of African art. Haing sold his first piece of African art in 111 to Joseph Brummer, Guillaume became the most prestigious African art collector and dealer in the period between the two world wars." The lot has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $120,000.

Lot 355 is an impressive Mayan standing dignitary that is 9 1/2 inches high and is Jaina, Late Classic, circa A.D. 550-950. It has a modest estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $22,800.

Lot 361 is a Veracruz hed with a jaguar helmet, Late Classic, circa A.D. 550-950, that is 6 1/4 inches high and distinguished by its relatively simple but strong form and the large animal eyes. It has a modest estimate of $8,000 to $10,000. It sold for $30,000.

Lot 292 and Lot 293 are fine silver Inca figures that come from the Jacob Epstein and Carlo Monzino collections. Lot 292 is a male figure and has an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000 and Lot 293 is a female figure and hasan estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. Lot 292 sold for $27,000 and Lot 293 sold for $12,000.

Lot 334 is very good Mezcala Late Pre-Classic temple with six columns that is notable for its curved top and base and fine sculpting. It is dated circa 300-100 B.C., and is 5 3/8 inches high. It has a modest estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $6,000.

Lot 358 is a wonderful Teotihuacan brownware tripod vessel, Early Classic, circa A.D. 250-450. The vessel is 6 inches in diameter and is notable for its large diagonal band depicting abstracted serpents and the small heads attached around the basal rim. The lot has a modest estimate of $1,500 to $2500. It sold for $3.900.

Lot 410 is a large Teotihuacan stone figure that is 15 inches high is dated Classic, circa A.D. 450-650. It has a modest estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $54,000.