By Carter B. Horsley

This season Sotheby's has combined its Tribal Art, American Indian Art and Pre-Columbian Art auctions into one catalogue. The 87 lots of Oceanic Art start the auction at 10:15AM, Saturday, May 19, 2001, followed by 159 lots of the arts of Africa. The afternoon session, which starts at 2PM, will begin with 27 lots of American Indian Art, the smallest number in many seasons, followed by 148 lots of Pre-Columbian Art. While the sale recorded some good prices, only 75.66 percent of the 419 offered lots sold fora total of $6,767,745 including the buyer's premiums.

The Oceanic section of this auction has many fine works included a superb canoe prow, a fine canoe splash board, a wonderful dance paddle, an excellent gope board, a nice "pig killer," a fine ancestor plaque, and some good masks.

The canoe prow, shown, above, Lot 38, comes from the Geelvink Bay in Irian Jaya and measures 83 inches in length and has a conservative estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. It sold for $55, 375 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The prows were affixed to the bows of large out-rigger canoes and incorporate in their design squatting korwar figures who represent the ancestors and serve to protect the canoe and, according to the catalogue, the prow was then decorated with cassowary feathers, cut short to suggest short hair.

Lot 73, shown above is a "magnificent" Maori transverse board for a war canoe head, 29 1/2 inches wide, that was collected by Captain William Greer circa 1850 and has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $235,750. The catalogue notes that "a review of the published Maori figure-heads reveals that this transverse board is the only one outside a museum collection. This board is one of the most elaborate known, with the naturalistic male kneeling chief figure onthe side whichwouldhave faced the rowers (as indicated by his male facial tatoo pattern...standing against a field of repeating diamond motifs. ....Stylistically, the prow resembled a number of architectural figures carved by the Te Arawa tribe of the Bay of Plenty,or, perhaps even more, some by the Ngati Kahungunu of Hawke's Bay, both in the northeast of the island" (New Zealand).

Lot 10, is a fine Massim canoe splash board, lagim, the rectangular plank flaring at one end, the front elaborately carved with scrolling openwork motif, two stylized human figures in the upper middle section, according to the catalogue. The board is 32 inches high and has a modest estimate of $5,000 to $7,000. It sold for $10,800.

The dance paddle is Lot 64 and comes from Easter Island. The 33-inch-high rapa is, the catalogue notes, "a symbol of authority, and primarily used in jurisprudence ceremonies." The paddle was given to the Plymouth Museum in Devon in 1899 and was later in the James T. Cooper Collection. It has an ambitious estimate of $125,000 to $200,000. It sold for $423,750.

Another Easter Island object is Lot 67, a 16 1/8-inch-high wooden sculpture of an emaciated man. "This magnificent figure falls into the category of classic male moai kavakava with the dramatic ribcage encircling the torso and the inset obsidian and fish vertebrae eyes beneath the strong brow. The glyph on the crown depicts mirrored rooster figures, one of the images incorporated into the glyphs of documented East Island figures. A similar piece is at the Art Institute of Chicago and a related one in the British Museum. The lot has an conservative estimate of $125,000 to $175,000. It sold for $159,750.

Lot 22, shown above, is a superb New Caledonian bird head club, 30 1/4 inches high, that has a conservative estimate of $5,000 to $7,000 and is one of the best of its kind. It sold for $13,200.

Lot 29 is a superb Papuan Gulf, Kerewa area, gopbe board, 56 1/2 inches high, of large flat oval form and pierced around the rim for the attachment of ornaments and decorated in high relief with a figure of classical Papuan style in black and red pigments against a field of white. The board was once in the collection of Walter Spies, a Russian-born, German artist who, according to the catalogue, between the world wars, "put together one of the best early collections of Indonesian art." The lot has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $58,250.

The "pig-killer" is Lot 21, a 30 1/4-inch-high shaft that tapers to an abstract diamond-shaped face, "the triangular nose with pierced septum framed by oval eyes encircled by a ridged rim, with a flaring conical section emerging from beneath the chin and a finial with four protruding conical sections above. The fearsome and impressive lot has an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It failed to sell.

Some of the most spectacular colorful and abstract Oceanic works of art are ancestor plaques from the Central Highlands, Siane, and Lot 19 is a particularly complex example. These New Guinea objects were used in ceremonies associated with the feeding of ancestor spirits and the propagation of pigs, the catalogue noted, adding that the gerua boards were worn in dance, strapped to the male heads of families" and were "spiritually activated through the placement of crown of human hair at the tope and various valuables attached to other parts of it. The 58 1/2-inch high sculpture has an estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It sold for $75,500.

Lot 18 is a rare Southern Pentecost Islands mask, 23 5/8 inches high, that has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $69, 750. "Masks from the Pentecost Islands are among the rarest masks in Oceania," the catalogue states, and this mask is stylistically "closest in its multiple piercing around the rim, the treatment of the pierced septum and the raised elliptical sections below the pierced eyes, to another in the collection of the Musée d'Ethnographie" in Geneva, Switzerland.

Lot 3 is a fine and rare Sepik River mei mask, 17 inches high, that is covered with a thick mudpack and has boar's tusks inserted through the nose. It has a very fine and varied patina on the exposed parts of the face and an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 2 is a thin New Guinea, Bungain Peoples mask of hollowed oval form that is very abstract and elegant. It has a modest estimate of $6,000 to $9,000. It failed to sell.

The African Arts section is highlighted by fine Dogon, Temne, Baule, Ibibio, Bamileke and Songe figures, a Benin vessel, a Benin vessel, Ekpeye and Bokyi headdresses, a Lula mask, a Fang reliquary guardian head, a Yombe flywhisk, a Luba bowstand, a Lozi stool, a Nguni/Northern Transvaal staff, and a Tsonga headrest.

Lot 95 is a fine and rare Dogon figure, 18 3/4 inches high, shown above, that was collected in Africa before 1903 by a French civil servant. "This elaborate and unusual figure was probably carved in the Southern Bandiagara Cliffs region, in the Bombou-Toro style," the catalogue stated, adding that "the central axis, surrounded by caryatid figures, links the base, representing the earth, and the barrel chest, representing the sky. This magnificent lot has a very conservative estimate of $65,000 to $75,000. It sold for $58,250.

Lot 101 is a less complex but still impressive Dogon figure of a woman with the same provenance. The 20 1/4-inch high statue has an estimate of $45,000 to $55,000. It sold for $32,500.

Lot 106, shown above, is a rare Temne female figure, 22 1/2 inches high, that was once in the Carlo Monzino Collection. This highly stylized and very evocative wooden sculpture stands of unusually bulky but still delicate feet and has a tapering torso with broad shoulders and an elongated ridged neck. The rings at the neck, the catalogue noted, "signify health and beauty, while the composed facial features and closed mouth suggest poise and self-control. This is an exquisite lot and has a conservative estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $49,625.

Lot 150 is a superb Ibibio, Southern Eket region, shrine figure of abstract form with a very broad open mouth bearing teeth. The intimidating 24 1/4-inch high statue, shown above, has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 242, shown above, is a fine Salampasumask, with a two-part beard of braided fiber with cane balls attached and a headdress of cane balls and woven raffia. This lot has an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 151 is a fine Benin vessel, 17 1/4 inches in diameter, with a lid decorated with "complex iconography in relief including a scene with the traditional Benin altar supporting a rattle staff, ukhure, a bronze head surmounted by a tusk and two ram's heads flanked by a European holding a sword and a whip (?) and a Nini chief in full regalia holding the ukhure and supported by an attendant to this left, and to the left a battle scene and a leopard eating a head (?), and the right of the European and naked upper torso and a riderless horse, separated from a horse and snake, all surrounding the central panel on the lid with two fish, two turtles and a curled pangolin on the handle. The box decorated with a horizontal figure with a gun being eaten by an enormous serpent against a field of leaves."

This quite extraordinary, indeed, almost epic, vessel was formerly in the collection of Jacob Epstein and the Carlo Monzino collection. The lot has a conservative estimate of $7,000 to $10,000. It sold for $19,150.

Lot 171 is a fine and rare Lula mask with a fine patina of blue and white pigments. The simple but very powerful mask has an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It is 15 3/4 inches high. It sold for $29,350.

Lot 159 is a rare Ekpeye headdress that is 80 inches high and was at one time in the Lynne and Robert Rubin Collection in New York and exhibited at the Museum for African Art in New York in 1995. The intricate abstract mask belongs to the Egbukere masking tradition among the Ekpeye people and has an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000. It sold for $22,600.

Lot 149, shown above, is a fine and rare Bokyi face mask, 11 1/2 inches high, framed by large circular leather ear flaps with indigenous restoration. "Hide ears," according to the catalogue, "are often symbolic of the power of the elephant, and used in regulatory societies." It has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $31,800.

Lot 160 is a superb Bokyi janiform headdress from the Carlo Monzino Collection that was exhibited at the Center for African Art in New York in 1986 and is nearly identical to a headdress at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Janiform skin-covered masks are very rare, and originated in the Cross River region of Nigeria and Cameroon. This headdress represents a male and female with scarification typical of Cross River pre-nuptial rites. The tattooed nsibidi motifs, the treatment of the eyes, fine nose with flared nostrils and deep cheeklines place the headdress clearly amongst the Bokyi. The horns are indicative of a coiffure style rather than an association with hunting (Keith Nicklin, personal communication)." This classic, scary sculpture is 21 1/4 inches high and has a conservative estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $31,800.

Lot 177 is a fine Fang reliquary guardian head, 17 3/4 inches high, that has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It failed to sell. "In addition to the great expressiveness evident in this head, it shows extreme age in the fine encrustation of the face and coiffure. The date of carving must therefore be placed well back into the nineteenth century, if not earlier," the catalogue stated.

Lot 172, a rare Yoruba Egungun helmet, 12 inches high, shown above, right, has an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000. It sold for $32,950.

Lot 178 is considerably less noble than the previous lot but full of mystery and drama. It is a formidable and rare Bamileke male figure standing on fragmentary muscular legs leading to rounded hips, the large protruding abdomen with a rectangular hole and rounded shoulders issuing bent arms, the left hand clasped to the chest, the right hand to the mouth, the thick neck supporting a large head with open circular mouth revealing filed teeth, beneath sloping forehead and cop-like coiffure," according to the catalogue's description. The aged and weathered, 34 5/8-inch-high sculpture was formerly in the collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Kahn in Switzerland and has a conservative estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $81,250.

Lot 188 is a fine Yombe flywhisk that is property of the Collection of Nicole and John Dintenfass of New York. The 13-inch high figure depicts a man with a brass ring around his neck and another around his crown that is "surmounted by a receptacle for the elephant hair whisk. The charming lot has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $14,400.

Lot 198 is a superb Songe male community magical figure wearing an elaborate fur and feather headdress and embossed copper face covers. The imposing, 33-inch-high figure has an estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. It sold for $170,750.

Lot 200 is a superb Kuba mask that is 16 1/2 inches high that is extremely decorative and awesome with scarification marks, patterned forehead, cloth headdress and extensive use of shells and beads. It has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $23,750.

Lot 220, which is illustrated on the back cover of the catalogue, is a superb Luba bowstand, 38 1/2 inches high, that was formerly in the collections of Charles Ratton and Geneviéve Rodier in Paris and the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva. The impressive lot has an estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 221 is a Lozi stool that has two leopards climbing its legs. The 19 5/8-inch-high stool has an estimate of $6,000 to $9,000. Lot 246 is a Tsonga headrest with a nicely carved face as its support. The 5 1/2-inch-high headrest has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 232 is a fine Nguni/Northern Transvall staff that is encircled by a raised serpent decorated with pokerwork dots beneath the geometric openwork form surmounted by an undulated abstract finial. The 37 1/4-inch high staff has an estimate of $2,000 to $3,000 and is quite remarkably abstract in its openwork near the top. It sold for $2,040.

With only 27 lots, half of which are rugs, this section of this auction represents a sharp decline in the traditional amount of American Indian Art offered in the spring at Sotheby's.

Lot 323 is a Tlingit Ceremonial Dance Blanket, Chilkat, that is 66 inches wide and is reported to have been woven in the village of Klukwan in Alaska about 1890 by Gus Klaney. It has an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000. It sold for $22,600.

The highlight of this part of the auction is Lot 325, a Northwest Coast dagger, probably Tlingit, that is 21 1/2 inches high, and has a finely carved horn veneer handle in the form of a "voracious sea creature, with thick lips, jagged teeth, flaring nostrils and hollowed eye frames with classic ovoid eye rims, holding a shaman figure in its caping mouth, flanked by a pair of human arms. The lot, which is illustrated on the back cover of the catalogue, has a conservative estimate of $18,000 to $22,000. It sold for $28,350.

Lot 324, shown above, is a Northwest Coast bentcorner box, 17 1/2 inches long, which has a conservative estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $19,150.

Lot 302, a classic Navajo man's wearing blanket, was estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 and sold for $401,750.

The Pre-Columbian Art section of this catalogue is fairly substantial with many interesting lots such as a fine feather panel, a Chimu figural marker and Chimu beakers, an Inca silver finial, some Valdivia abstract stone figures, a good Quimbaya seated figure, a lot of gold pieces, several Costa Rican stone metates, a Jalisco platform scene, a Veracruz polychrome jaguar, a Mayan polychrome female figure and a Mayan painted vessel.

Lot 410, shown above, is a Nazca/Huari feather panel, circa A.D. 600-800, that is 19 3/4 by 25 inches, of an eight-pointed vibrant yellow star outlined in orange with a central human face marked by grinning mouth and squared eyes. This stunning panel has an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000. It sold for $15,600.

Lot 412 is a Chimu wood figural marker, circa A.D. 1100-1400. The 21 1/2-inch high statue, shown above, depicts a man whose forehead is decorated with mother-of-pearl inlays now covered with a headband of human hair, oval eyes marked by pearl pupils, a loincloth decorated with other-of-pearl plaques incised with avians in flight and the chest decorated with turquoise beads with circular rondels and the face covered with resinous red pigment showing textile impressions. The lot, which is illustrated on the catalogue's cover, has a conservative estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $15,600.

The auction has many good silver and gold objects.

Lot 419, shown below, consists of three Chimu silver effigy beakers with repoussé facial features, circa A.D. 1300-1500 with a conservative estimate of $8,000 to $10,000. It sold for $16,800. Lot 421 is a Middle Chimu gold beaker, Sican, circa A. D. 950-1250, 5 3/8 inches high, that has an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. It failed to sell. Lot 422 is a 3 7/8-inch high silver finial in the form of an animated howling feline, circa A. D. 1470-1532 and it has a conservative estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $16,800.

Lot 436 is a rare Calima gold figural pendant, Malagana style, circa 300 B.C., to A.D. 100, which is solid cast and depicts the imposing figure of a high priest in an elaborate ceremonial mask and gripping cylindrical instruments in each hand. The 2 5/8-inch-high pendant has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $104,250. The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"This unique figural pendant is one of the earliest Colombian representations of an elite religious figure, known as the empowered shaman. The rich symbolic imagery on such gold figures provides vivid insight into the myths and practices of the ancient peoples of the region. The high priest is shown in an empowered state, represented by the tingunas or emanations of vital force created by the transformation of the 'spirit body.' …The Malagana style is named for the site in the floodplain region in the Cauca Valley of the Southwestern Cordillera area, and has material dating as early as the 4th Century B.C."

Lot 440 is a Veraguas gold figural pendant, circa A.D. 800-1500, of a twin-headed figure with looped arms holding an arched serpent in both hands, each simian face with high forehead and wide-rimmed mouth displaying teeth. The piece has been exhibiting in three museums and was in a traveling exhibition, "The World of Ancient Gold," at the New York World's Fair in 1964-5. It has an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $41,000.

A fine pendant for the Calima pendant, Lot 436, is Lot 441, a Popayán gold anthropomorphic figure, circa A.D. 1200-1500, that has a beaked nose, spiral eyes and ears, and oversized hands and is similar to a piece in the Alice M. Kaplan Collection. The 3 3/8-inch-high pendant has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $46,750.

Lot 442 is a large Tairona gold pectoral, circa A.D. 1000-1500 that was once in the Alice M. Kaplan Collection, which acquired it from Andre Emmerich Inc., in 1970. The 7 7/8-inch-high ornament is in the form of a impressive stylized avian in flight, surmounted by a row of raptorial birds perched with wings folded to the body with each avian supporting a human figure seated. The lot has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $46,750.

Another impressive pendant is Lot 445, a large Coclé double-figural pendant, Parita, Azuero Peninsula, circa A.D.800-1500. This 6 1/4-inch wide gold piece shows two supernatural warriors of dramatic stature holding tall paddle-shaped clubs and scepters. The lot has an estimate of $80,000 to $100,000. It sold for $92,750.

Lot 452 is a large Diquis gold figural pendant, circa A.D. 800-1500 that shows a "fierce" figure standing within a rectangular frame with his arms terminated in serpent heads and serpents "issuing from the feet and behind the head." The 5 1/8-inch high piece has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. It failed to sell.

Certainly such gold pieces are museum quality as are three Costa Rican stone metates of gray volcanic stone, Lot 466-8, that are the best offered in recent years. Lot 466 is dated circa A.D. 300-700 and depicts the jaguar with displayed fangs and long curled tail. The 32 1/2-inch long table has a conservative estimate of $7,000 to $10,000. It failed to sell. Lot 467, is from the Atlantic Watershed Region and is dated A.D. 1-500 and is of the "flying panel" type with a sunken platform and an openwork base composed of a central raptorial bird standing with wings outspread and grasping a snake in its curved beak with three pillar legs each carved on one side with similar avians showed incised wings folded against the body and an additional support carved with two human figures, one above the other. The 15 1/4-inch-long metate has a conservative estimate of $4,500 to $5,500. It failed to sell. Lot 468 is a 34 1/2-inch-long metate from the same region and date as Lot 467, but its supports are more rounded and not as distinguished as those on Lot 467. This lot has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 487 is a Jalisco Platform Scene, Protoclassic, circa 100 B.C. - A.D. 250, a 7 3/4-inch long scene that portrays a ritual curing with four figures. The lot has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $12,000.

Lot 520 is a spectacular Veracruz polychrome jaguar, Late Classic, circa A.D. 550-950, 24 1/4 inches high, that has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $41,000.

Lot 540 is a Mayan painted vessel, Lowlands, Late Classic, circa A.D. 550-950, 6 1/4 inches high, that is a delicately painted vessel that is very Oriental in the style of its monochromatic painting. It has an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000. It sold for $32,950.