By Carter B. Horsley

Chaim Gross was a well-known sculptor who happened to amass a very important collection of tribal art.

An essay by Irwin Hersey in the catalogue provides the following commentary:

"Chaim Gross (1904-1991) was the last of the first generation of great American collectors of Afri8can art - a generation that included such famous figures as the Philadelphia patent-medicine king Albert Barnes, Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield and the well-known Russian-American artist John Graham. Chaim once told me that he became interested in African art because of his friendship with Graham. Graham always bought too much on his trips to Europe with Crowninshield in the 1920s-30s and, since he was always broke and in need of money, he frequently tried to sell some of his excess pieces. Early on, Chaim bought a few of them, and he was hooked for the rest of his life. After World War II, Chaim himself began to make periodic trips to Europe, particularly to Paris. Since he had already become a steady buyer Chaim soon knew all the major dealers and slowly but surely began to built his great collection....In addition to building one of the world's greatest collections, Chaim turned many of his friends - and particularly his artist friends - into African art collectors, among them the composer Harold Rome..., and the great American photogaphers Eliot Elisofon...and Arnold Newman....."

Lot 55 is a "superb" Suku mask from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is 12 1/2 inches high and was acquired in the 1970s from Jim Camp of New York. It is a fabulous mask and has a modest estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $43,750 including the buyer's premium.

The auction was quite successful with 80.2 percent of the 81 offered lots selling for $4,88,316.

Another piece from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Lot 58 is a strong Songye power figure. It is 17 1/2 inches high and has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $9,735. It has a water buck horn on top of the head, domestic goat hair on the head and two domestic goat horns attached to the arms.

Lot 38 is a quite terrifying Bamum Buffalo mask from Cameroon. It is 13 1/2 inches high and has estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $27,500. It is one of many pieces in the Gross collection that came from Frank W. Crowninshield and John D. Graham.

Lot 9 is a "magnificent Soninke hermaphrodite figure from Mali. It is 30 inches tall and is dated to the 12th to the 15th centuries. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $530,500, an auction record for a Soninke piece.

The catalogue entry for the lot provides the following commentary:

"The magnificent hermaphrodite figure from the Gross Collection is one of a small group of wooden figures that were found in caves at the southwest side of the Bandiagara cliff in central Mali. All figures appear to be of great age, and several were tested by the C-14 method and produced dates ranging from the 10th to the 15th century. The earliest known date (975 A.D. +/- 45 years) comes from the large statue with raised arms in the Musée du Quai Branly, previously in the Hélène and Philippe Leloup Collection....Today Soninke figures are found in major institutional collections, including: the famous figure of a horse-rider in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts...; a standing figure, wearing a skirt and holding a ceremonial dolaba over its shoulder, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York...; a figure with similar posture in The Menil Collection, Houston...; another standing figure in the Dallas Museum of Art...; and a hermaphrodite figure with the same arm posture as the offered lot in the New Orleans Museum of Art....Sculptures in the style of the Gross Soninke are extremely rare. They are believed to have been created by the population of the region to the southwest of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali, at a time before the current Dogon population settled in this area. While Hélène Leloup...refers to the creators of these statues as 'Djennenke,' Bernard de Grunne...calls them 'Soninke.' Apart from this titular difference, both authors use the same criteria for identification and have emphasized the close stylistic and iconographic links between the wooden figures in question and the terracotta figures commonly referred to as 'Djenne.' They both agree that the terracotta figures and the wood figures are remnants of the same culture. Leloup...notes: 'Djennenke wooden sculptures are slightly taller than the average Dogon sculpture and they are rendered with greater virtuosity and realism. They resemble the terra-cotta sculptures from the Pondori region....Their stylistic similarities are certain for they share common morphological features: elongated body, thin nose, protuberant eyes....Although these statues are sculpted in different materials, they also share one distinct common trait: tegumental scarifications, signs of membership to one and the same clan.' Elsewhere Leloup...: 'The wooden statues found on the [Bandiagara] Plateau are very different from Dogon-Mande statues because of their realistic conception. Stylistically, they are remarkably similar to the terra-cotta statuettes found in archaeological digs in the Pondori region, especially in Djenne....[However, these] two types of sculpture (wood and terra-cotta) can be attributed to one and the same civilization because they have the same age and display similar stylistic characteristics - especially the scarifications - which are determinant in identifying the artists but which are placed in different parts of the body.' As the lifespan of wood depends on the climatic circumstances of its preservation, it is uncommon for African wood sculpture to survive for centuries. The group of Soninke sculptures in question presumably owes its preservation to the extraordinary conservatory conditions at the site of their discovery within practically inaccessible caves of the southeastern cliff of the Bandiagara Plateau in central Mali. The figures were remote from insects and rodents, in a stable and dry environment that allowed the wood to survive for centuries. Leloup assumes that the wooden statues were placed inside the caves when the Djenne Empire was invaded by the Islamic and iconoclastic Songhay in the 15th century. On January 18, 1469 the capital of the Djenne empire, Djenne-Jenno, was defeated in 'immense bloodshed'....The surrounding chiefdoms allied with Djenne were pillaged by the invaders. To safeguard their religious carvings from destruction by the Songhay, the Soninke leaders fled to the Bandiagara cliffs, taking their most precious possessions with them, including their important ancestor statues. There they seem to have hidden the figures with the hope of retrieving them at a future date. The Soninke, however, never returned, and it was not until the 1930s that the caves and their contents were rediscovered by the French anthropologist Marcel Griaule....The dates suggested by Leloup correspond with the presumed settling date of the Dogon in the area....Soninke figures are more naturalistic and elegant in comparison with the more geometric and cubistic approach taken by Dogon artists. The face is elongated and narrow, with a fine nose, protruding eyes, and a rectangular block of multiple horizontal lines of scarification marks leading from the eyes to the ears. According to de Grunne..., this scarification motif identifies the figures as representations of Soninke "aristocrats" from the Kagoro clan, which, in the 13th century, had fled the Dogon-Mande kingdom due to dynastic controversies, as well as the increasing influence of Islam. De Grunne...identified a group of three hermaphrodite figures of a very similar style, which he attributed to a workshop he called 'Master of Ireli,' based on the name of the village in which one of these figures was found. These figures share several features, including: the general proportions of the body with wide pelvis and narrow shoulders; the shape of the breasts with ridged nipples, possibly a ritual scarification; a rectangular amulet suspended from the neck; the vertical oval shape of the head, the form of the beard, the C-shaped ears and the same amount of horizontal rows of scarification marks between the eyes and the ears; and the oval protruding mouth with the tongue between the lips. The Soninke Hermaphrodite from the Gross Collection, showing these characteristics, can be attributed to the Ireli workshop. While all four figures wear bracelets, only three are wearing anklets....Different from the other comparable figures is the hairstyle of the Gross Soninke, which displays a shaved head with a long strand of hair on top tied into a bun. According to Leloup..., this hairstyle, a 'bun on top of the head, with the hair wrapped by ribbons (accentuating an elongated silhouette) - was traditional for Nono [another Soninke clan] chiefs. It corresponds to that on the oldest statues, whose style is the purest.' The swollen abdomen, more or less emphasized in all four figures, can be interpreted as a sign of pregnancy....Little is known about the precise meaning of the hermaphrodite figures. Assuming continuity in oral traditions, however, between the present-day Dogon population and their territorial predecessors, the Soninke, we can transfer our understanding of this iconography within the spiritual belief system of the successors (Dogon) into the one of the predecessors (Soninke). Hélène Leloup notes: 'Among the most spectacular sculptures, we find the mysterious hermaphrodites. To understand these statues, one must clarify the Dogon concept of perfection deriving from the re-union of what was separated. For young initiates, these statues expressed the necessity of the dualism existing in nature, the social differentiation between men and women, the distinction between the sexes - dualism one had to transgress in order to attain perfection and continuity in life. We have here the illustration of a typical Dogon concept: the male contains the female who also contains the male....These atypical beings are said to represent the 'eight primordial ancestors, born of the couple fashioned by God [who] could inseminate themselves, each being double and of both sexes'..., principle that disappeared after the incest and the birth of the human couple.' Based on this interpretation, the Soninke Hermaphrodite from the Gross Collection appears to be a likeness of a proto-human primordial ancestor or a mythical hero."

Lot 41 is a "rare and important" Bete mask from the Ivory Coast. It is 15 inches high and has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $31,250.

It was acquired from John D. Graham of New York in the 1940s who had got it from Frank W. Crowninshield who originally acquired it prior to 1937 from Mr. Graham. It was exhibited as the Brooklyn Museum in the 1937 exhibition "African Negro Art: The Collection of Frank Crowninshield."

Lot 25 is a superb, "extremely rare and important Senufo kneeling female figure" from the Ivory Coast. It is 11 3/4 inches high and was acquired from Merton D. Simpson in the 1950s. It has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $758,500.

The catalogue entry by Professor Dr. Till Forster of the Institute for Social Anthropology of the University of Basel for the lot describes it "by virtue of its quality and iconography, an extraordinary work of art," adding that "the kneeling posture of this sculpture is very rare."

"The sculpture," according to the catalogue, "shows the typical style of the Fodombele (Fodonon) villages in the central region of Senufoland in northern Côte d'Ivoire. The region is mainly inhabited by Tyebara-speaking Senufo, who also produced most of the artworks that were collected in the area after World War II. The late 1940s and early 1950s were a time when a movement of religious revival - the cult of Massa - rocked Senufo culture and society. The priests of the cult urged many owners of such artworks to abandon them in favor of the new and iconoclastic cult. They also penetrated the villages that were inhabited by the small minority of the Fodombele, who spoke another dialect and still maintained a rural culture with sacred forests, to which very few Tyebara had access. The famous sculptures of Lataha, now in major international collections, were also abandoned at the time and then 'discovered' by a missionary and subsequently collected by art traders. It is likely that this kneeling figure was collected around the same time and probably in the same region. The style of the figure, in particular its head and upper body, comes close to the one of the standing figure now in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich....Though the comb representing the hairdo is slightly bigger and more dominating, the facial expression is very similar. It shows the same protruding jaws, mouth, and lips. The fine, gently-curved line that separates the cheeks from the frontal part of the face is also similar to the one that present scholarship associates with the so-called workshop of Lataha. The style of this workshop is also visible in the treatment of the arms. Though the lower arms and hands do not show the same grace and downward-bound shape of the most famous Lataha sculptures, they are still close to how the carvers elaborated the hands of their figures. The long and straight ornamental scars on the cheeks and also on the upper arms, however, do not belong to Fodombele culture. Since the Fodombele had no carvers, they ordered their wooden figures and masks from the neighboring Senufo groups, in particular from the Kulibele, another Tyebara-speaking subgroup, which specialized in wood carving. The Kulibele carvers possibly depicted what they were familiar with and added scarification marks representing their own cultural context. The backward bend of the body and, in particular, the kneeling posture of the figure, make it a unique example of Senufo art. Almost all Senufo ceremonies and rituals demand upright figures, while the kneeling and forwardly-bent body is a typical position in daily work. Women often do fieldwork and housework in such postures. The figure is comparatively high for an object that might have been part of a diviner's ensemble, but it is also too small for an object of poro, the men's secret society. The figure, however, shows clear signs of use, and it has a fine patina that points to a long integration into ritual practices. It may have been part of the female sando'o society, which was a complement to the male dominated poro. This secret society had paraphernalia that were kept undisclosed to men, and later to researchers, which may explain why no other example with similar iconography was ever recorded."

Lot 73 is a "superb and rare" female figure, either Ngbandi, or Ngbanka or Mbanza from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is 15 1/2 inches high and has chicken feathers attached around its neck and waist. It has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It failed to sell.

The catalogue entry notes that "As Grootaers (2007: 9, with a citation of Ludwig Wittgenstein) notes: 'In the heart of Africa lies an area - known as Ubangi - in which the arts share 'a complicated network of similarities overlapping and criss-crossing: sometimes overall similarities, sometimes similarities of detail'.' The offered lot, a superb specimen of Ubangian sculpture, is exemplary for the artistic production of this melting pot, uniting characteristics of Ngbandi, Mbanza and Ngbaka styles. The Ngbaka, Mbanza and Ngbandi are neighboring peoples in the southern Ubangi region between the Ubangi and Congo rivers. The vertical line of scarification on the forehead can be found in statues from all three styles. According to Burssens (in Grootaers 2007: 114), the 'sculpture of the Ngbandi has by far the most recognizable characteristics [among the different styles found in the Ubangi region]. For example, Ngbandi sculptors certainly made fairly slender statues with a pointed, cut-out hairstyle. At the time, the hair of both men and women was shaved in an inverted 'V' above the forehead." However, while the hairstyle of the Gross figure seems to match this description, the legs resemble certain figures attributed to the Mbanza or Banda...and the posture of the arms recalls several figures attributed to the Ngbaka...."

Lot 79 is a "superb" Purari Delta kvoi board from Papua New Guinea. It is 45 1/2 inches high and has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $28,125. The sculpture has a wonderful and very elegant form and balance.

Another work from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Lot 60, a Kongo-Vili power figure that is 12 1/4 inches high. It has an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000 and sold for $31,250. This lot was formerly owned by Mr. Graham and Mr. Crowninshield.

Lot 34 is a "superb and important" Benin bronze plaque from Nigeria circa 16th-17th Century. It is 16 1/2 inches high. It has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $458,500.

The plaque was owned by The British Museum in London from 1898 to 1952 when it was acquired by John J. Klejman of New York who sold it to Gross in 1957. Sir Ralph Moor, Commissioner and Consul General of His Majesty in the Niger Coast Protectorate sent 304 plaques to Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury, Principal secretary to his Majesty for Foreign Affairs and helent them to the British Museum where they were exhibited in the Assyrian Room in 1897. After their exhibition 104 placques were sold "to pay for the expenses of the [1897 British Punitive] Expedition and to offer a pension to its participants or their survivors," according to the catalogue entry for this lot.

"The offered plaque," the catalogue notes, "depicts a finely-cast single figure, probably a war commander and a chief, as suggested by the high coral neckband and a leopard's tooth necklace. His clothes are a surcoat of leopard skin, and a loin-cloth, presumably of the same material, a mark of high status. He wears an unusual hat with a feather plume now broken on the top. The shape of the hat is more than likely modeled on a grenadier hat. In the late 1600s the wide brims of the traditional military hats were at odds with the grenadier's throwing arm, and a hat without a brim was devised, soon spreading throughout the European military....The hat worn by the figure on the Gross plaque was more than likely modeled on a Portuguese form of grenadiers' hats. The Benin Kingdom had been in a trading relationship with Portuguese merchants since the 15th/16th century, and influences of this contact can often be seen in Benin art. The figure carries an eden sword in his left hand, a marker of the status of a chief in the court of Benin."

Lot 67 is a "magnificent, rare and highly important Ngbaka statue representing the mystical ancestor Sètò from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is 19 inches high. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $1,258,500.

It has been widely published and exhibited and was formerly in the collections of Mr. Graham and Mr. Crowninshield.

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"Until very recently, more precisely not before Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers' important exhibition and encyclopedic 2007 monograph Ubangi: Art and Cultures from the African Heartland, Ubangian sculpture was the last major unstudied area of art from sub-Saharan Africa. Notwithstanding this lack of information and the general rarity of Ubangi art, the inventive and powerful aesthetics particularly of statuary have always enjoyed the interest of collectors, and in particular of the early 20th-century avant-garde....In this context, it is interesting to note that the offered lot was previously owned by another artist from Chaim Gross's circle of friends, the painter John Graham who also knew Picasso. Gross considered the figure a universal masterpiece and counted it among the favorite pieces in his collection. According to the great African art scholar William Fagg..., it is 'the finest from the area.' The Ubangi region in central Africa spans three different countries: the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan. It houses a cluster of societies with strong historical, linguistic, and anthropological interrelations....According to Meurant..., the Ngbaka (Ngbaka-minagende) 'are the largest population group in the western Ubangi area, whose centre (Gemena) they occupy. [...] The sculptures usually display the typical scarifications found on Ngbaka faces: a vertical line dividing the face from the top of the forehead to the tip of the nose, lines (or chevrons) joining the ears to the eyes, and sometimes a horizontal line at the bottom of the forehead.' Among the Ngbaka, male and female human figures were placed at shrines as representations of the mythical ancestor Sètò and his sister-spouse, Nàbo. As Burssens...notes: 'The Ngbaka call their Supreme Being Gàlè, and the cult dedicated to him was more important than such cults were elsewhere in Ubangi. Gàlè was the source of life and the bringer of fertility among women. At the entrance to a dwelling, a fast growing kapok tree (gìlà) would be planted in his honour. Yet, in spite of his significance, in daily life other supernatural beings were more important. Ngbaka myths reveal the existence of another Great Spirit, Gbògbòsò (also spelled Gbaso), the creator of heaven and earth, water and fire, plants and animals. People owed their existence to yet another being, Sètò or To, who is visible nightly in the constellation Orion and who is also the most important hero in Ngbaka fables. He would have a shrine, a toa to, next to that of the ancestors. Sometimes two wooden statuettes were placed nearby, one male, one female, which represented Sètò and his sister-spouse, Nàbo. Although Sètò was considered the first - albeit mythical ancestor - the ancestors themselves were never depicted.'.Henrix...adds: Sètò, a trickster character, 'was believed to live in the forest in the shape of a very tall human being. His sister, who was also his wife, was called Nàbo. Sètò managed to steal all creatures away from Gbògbòsò, and for this reason was regarded by the Ngbaka as their ancestor. They would say, 'It's thanks to Sètò that we exist. Without him Gbògbòsò would have eaten us all.' Sètò was invoked during certain ndábà rites. 'As it was dangerous to visit Sètò in the bush, his statuette would be set up in the village. Soft wood would be collected and one or two figurines made, representing Sètò, or Sètò and Nàbo. These were blackened and covered in red kúlà powder from the camwood tree. A cola nut was then chewed and the fibers spat onto the figures. The statuettes were kept in the homes of their owners and sometimes taken out for [the] ndábà rites [...] - the ndábà being an altar in the form of a seat or a table which could be sat on, or where offerings could be placed. The ndábà rite was addressed to either Gàlè, Sètò or the spirits of the dead (bòzo). But often all three were invoked in the course of a single rite, sometimes all at once. [...] If someone had a problem (sickness, sterility, an unsuccessful hunt), they would consult a seer, who would try to find the cause by divination. If necessary the seer would order the ndábà rite to be performed and would prescribe certain aspects to be observed [...]. The presence of other objects or constructions alongside the ndábà would depend on the purpose for which the rite was being performed. [...] As photographs show, kpìkìmà (statuettes) of the mythical couple Sètò and Nàbo were also used.' One of the major examples of its genre and widely published and exhibited throughout the 20th century, the Ngbaka Statue of Sètò from the Gross Collection is a magnificent creation by an unknown artist of outstanding skill. By virtue of its early provenance and deep, multi-layered ritual patina, attesting to decades of ritual practice, it can safely be dated to the middle of the 19th century or earlier. It is a rare example of an archaic, pre-contact style. The facial features of the Gross Ngbaka, notably the concave eye sockets and the treatment of the half-open mouth, can be compared to another male figure, presumably also a representation of Sètò, with equally early history. Collected in the village of Bogelima (Karawa) by Jacques Perlo in 1912, this figure is today in the collection of the Musée Royale de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren....In its superb quality, its regal composition and expression, with its alteration of swelling and constricted forms, and the dry crust of multi-layered patina, the Gross Ngbaka Figure is one of the quintessential Ngbaka statues in existence and undoubtedly the most important example from this region to appear at auction in recent history."

Lot 48 is a rare Fang-Mvai male reliquary figure from Gabon. It is 20 1/2 inches high. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $206,500.

It was acquired from Frank W. Crowinshield who got it from John D. Graham.

Lot 43 is a "superb" Fang-Betsi or -Nzaman male reliquary figure from Gabon. It is 22 inches high and has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $265,000.

It was acquired from Jack Passer of New York before 1958.

Lot 65 is a "fine" Hemba janiform male and female figure from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is 13 inches high and has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $11,250.