Art/Auctions The Shape of Beauty Sculpture from the Collection of Howard and Saretta Barnet at Sotheby's New York, May 14, 2018

The Shape of Beauty
Sculpture from the Collection of Howard and Saretta Barnet
Sotheby's New York
May 14, 2018
Sale 9855

Fang 16

Lot 16, "Ancestor Statue," by the Master of Ntem, Ntem Valley, Gabon, Fang-Mvai, 18 1/8 inches high, late 18th or early 19th Century

By Carter B. Horsley

The May 14, 2018 auction at Sotheby's New York of Sculpture from the Collection of Howard and Saretta Barnet entitled "The Shape of Beauty" is highlighted by a superb Fang sculpture, an impressive Roman bronze of Herakles, a stunning Greek bronze of a horse, a magnificent thin Olmec mask fragment, and a fabulous small Olmec sculpture of a dwarf, and a delicate Mayan oyster shell head of a jaguar.

Lot 16 is a superb Fang-Mvai ancestor statue by the Master of Ntem in the Ntem Valley in Gabon. It is 18 1/8 inches high and is from the late 18th or early 19th Century. It was once with Jacques Kermache of Paris and Armand Arman of New York. It has been widely published and was included in the "Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern" exhibition in 1983-4 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the "Eternal Ancestors: the Art of the Central African Reliquary" in 2007-8 at the Metrpolitan Museum of Art in New York, and "Les forets natales: Arts d'Afrique equatoriale atlantique" at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris from October 3, 2017 to January 21, 2018.

It has an estimate of $3,000,000 to $5,000,000. It sold for $3,495,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

The sale total was $8,399,135 with 27 of the 29 offered lots selling.

Lot 17, "Kneeling Dwarf," stone, possibly brown serpentine, 3 1/2 inches high, Olmec, Middle Preclassic, circa 900-600 B.C.

Lot 17 is a small stone Olmec sculpture of a kneeling dwarf that is only 3 1/2 inches high and is dated to the Middle Preclassic period, circa 900-600 B.C. It is missing its arms but is very strong work of art. It was acquired from the Edward H. Merrin Gallery in New York and was included in the 1995-6 exhibition at the Princeton Art Museum entitled "The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership." The catalogue entry notes that "The carved emblems of the harpy eagle helmets and maize symbols including the bag on his back, market the dwarf as a semi-divine carrier of the Olme's most sacred crop - maize."

The potent little figure has an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. It sold for $567,000!

Lot 12, mask fragment, jade, Olmec, Middle Pre-classic period, circa 900-600 B.C., 5 inches high

Another work also acquired from the Edward H. Merrin Gallery and included in the Princeton University Art Museum show of 1995-6 is Lot 12, an Olmec mask jade fragement pendant from the Middle Pre-classic period, circa 900-600 B.C. It is 5 inches high. The mask's thinness adds tremendously to it allure despite an apparently once broke tip of the nose.

It has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $675,000!

Lot 2, jade plaque, Mayan, Late Classic, circa A.D. 550-950, 3 3/4 inches long

Another green jade piece is the Mayan Late Classic plaque, Lot 2, circa A. D. 550-950. It is 3 3/4 inches long. It has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $81,250.

Lot 10, Shaman's mask, wood with mineral pigments, Southeast Alaska, early 19th Century, 10 inches high

Lot 10 is a wooden Shaman's mask with mineral pigments that is 10 inches high and is from Southeast Alaska in the early 19th Century. It was once owned by Wolfgang Paalen and has been widely published. The catalogue entry notes that it "is one of the great masterpieces of Northwest Coast art," adding that "the extraordinary presence of the Barnet mask is expressed best by Wolfgang Paalen, the man who rediscovered it. 'Works of art are traps set for life - if the trap is well set, life is ensnarled within it forever. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $1,515,000.

Lot 20, Doreh ancestor figure, Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia, 12 1/8 inches high

Lot 20 is a forehead mask from Southeast Alaska, 19th Century. The 8-inch-wide wood mask was once owned by Julius Carlebach of New York, the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation New York and the Andre Emmerich Gallery of New York. It has an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. It sold for $62,500.

Lot 15, "Figure of Herakles, bronze, 9 1/2 inches high, Early Roman Imperial, circa 1st Century A.D.

Lot 15 is a superb Early Roman Imperial bronze of Hercules that is 9 1/2 inches high and is dated circa 1st Century A.D. It is missing his lower legs, his left arm and is right hand. It was acquired in 1972 from Mathias Komor of New York. It has a modest estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. It sold for $175,000.

Lot 4, Horse, bronze, Greek, Geometric Period, circa 8th Century B.C., 5 1/2 inches high

Lot 4 is a great Greek bronze of a horse from the Geometric Period, circa 8th Century B.C. It is 5 1/2 inches high. It was once owned by Robin Symes of London. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 29, a jaguar head, Mayan, Late Classic, circa AD 550-950, 2 1/2 inches high, spiny oyster shell, foreground; Lot 28, harness ring, Western Persia, 8th or 7th Century B.C., 3 1/16 inches high, background

Lot 29 is a finely carved, spiny oyster shell in the shape of Jaguar head. It is 2 1/2 inches long and Mayan Late Classic, circa AD 550-950. It has a very modest estimate of $500 to $700. It sold for $13,750.

Lot 28 is a bronze Western Persian harness ring that is 3 1/16 inches high and is from the 8th or 7th Century B.C. It was once with Mathias Komor. It has an estimate of $2,000 to $3,000. It sold for $8,125.

See The City Review article on the Evolution of Form: African & Oceanic Art at the Genesis of Modernism at Christie's New York May 12, 2016
See The City Review article on the Spring 2016 Tribal Arts Auction at Sotheby's New York
See The City Review article on the Fall 2015 Tribal Arts auction at Sotheby's New York
See The City Review article on the Fall 2014 Tribal Arts auction at Sotheby's New York
See The City Review article on the Spring 2014 auction of Vol. 2 of the Allan Stone Collection of African and Oceanic Art at Sotheby's New York
See The City Review article on the Spring 2014 article on the African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian art auction at Sotheby's New York
See The City Review article on the Fall 2013 article on the African and Pre-Columbian Auction of Allan Stone's Collection at Sotheby's New York

See The City Review article on the Spring 2013 article on the African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian auction at Sotheby's New York

See The City Review article on the Spring 2012 article on the African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian auction at Sotheby's New York

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