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Sotheby's

African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property


from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 1
PAIR OF MIRAFLORES GOLD STAR ORNAMENTS,

CA. A.D. 500-1000


each cast and hammered in thin even section, with five-pointed star bursts in each of the
four directions; pierced twice at the center for attachment.
Width of each: 6 in (15.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Andre Emmerich, New York
Acquired from the above in 1972

CATALOGUE NOTE
The star motif is also seen in this form on Nariño/ Carchi resist bowls.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 2
PAIR OF COLOMBIAN GOLD FOIL OPENWORK EAR ORNAMENTS,
CA. A.D. 200-400
the four halves forming a pair of ornaments each of thin gold, with knobbed perimeters and
openwork star/scroll central design.
Diameter of each: 2 3/4 in (7 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired over 40 years ago
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 3
INCA GOLD FEMALE FIGURE,
CA. A.D. 1470-1532
of tall stature with peaceful slightly uplifted head with sharp chin, tiny mouth and eyes
nearly hooded beneath the full striated hair extending in a tapered plait down the back, her
long legs with knees indicated.
Height: 6 1/4 in (15.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired over 40 years ago
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 4
SINÚ GOLD TOUCAN FINIAL,
CA. A.D. 500-1000
proudly perched with upright head and long straight beak, with raised eyes and double
striated crests arching over the head, wings folded tightly to the body and tail fanned
outward, the tapering neck and chest of openwork design, the feet clutching the cylindrial
shaft pierced for attachment to a staff or scepter.

Height: 4 1/4 in (10.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 60,000-90,000 USD

CATALOGUE NOTE
The Caribbean northern lowland region of Colombia's Sinú and San Jorge rivers was home to the greater
Zenú people. Their sophisticated and elaborate system of artificial canals and raised beds was the largest hydralic
system in prehispanic America, which supported communities reaching a florescence at AD 500-1000. The high level
of gold technology grew from the exchange with the broader area including the Isthmus region.
Early Zenú gold work includes finely cast heavy finials for staffs that feature naturalistic animals of the lowland plains
including birds, land animals and aquatic creatures. Avians are frequently cast with openwork filigree design, and are
associated with the upper level of the cosmos. See Falchetti (2000:132-137, and Fig. 7.5e and Fig. 7.8) for examples
of avian finials.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 5
LARGE SICÁN PAINTED GOLD MASK,
CA. A.D. 950-1250
the continuous sheet of the imposing stylized face of the Sicán lord, with upturned eyes
applied with rounded pupils, separately applied nose, and straight mouth, adorned with
small roundels on the ear flanges, teardrop dangles beneath the eyes, and perforations on
the ears, eyes and upper lip for insertion of additional ornaments, with extensive remains
of cinnabar pigment and traces of green.
Width: 19 5/8 in (49.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 50,000-70,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired over 40 years ago

CATALOGUE NOTE
This large Sicán mask is a fine example of using pigments to add to the aura of these highly stylized funerary
items. Sicán masks from the north coast of Peru are some of the largest ancient goldworks known. The
carefully hammered flat surfaces were layered with ear and nose dangles, eye stalks, and often painted with sacred
red and green pigments, to create a dazzling collage of three-dimensional quality, even creating an acoustic effect.
This mask belongs to the Type A category of the Sicán typology; for masks of large size and a fairly heavy gauge
sheet metal, see Muro and Shimada (1985: 65, 68), and ibid. (pg. 67, figs. 5 and 6), for masks with pigment
remaining.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 6
PROPERTY FROM AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
TWO SICÁN GOLD BEAKERS,
CA. A.D.  950-1250
each of tall flaring form and repoussé with swirling aquatic scenes, one beaker with a
broad band of high waves with sea birds, rays and fish surrounding, the other beaker
composed with two rows of simliar scene, each with narrow bands of scrolling waves top
and bottom.
2.0
Heights: 7 3/4 in and 7 1/2 in (19.7 cm and 19 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-40,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Andre Emmerich Inc., New York
Renate Hofman, acquired from the above in 1973 and 1974
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 7
MANABI SEATED FIGURE, BAHIA,
CA. 500 B.C.-A.D.  500
the large figure adorned with a large tusk pendant, poised crosslegged and wearing the tall
spiked turban with flaps terminating in serpent heads on the shoulder, with bracelets of
shells, painted with a dark tunic and reddened limbs.
Height: 22 in (55.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-8,000 USD

CATALOGUE NOTE
The coastal Bahia region is one of areas where specialized ceremonial centers grew during the Regional
Development period. The large hollow figures represent elite shaman or individuals, sometimes shown
with implements for hallucinogenic substances, see Valdez and Veintimilla (1992: cat. no. 53).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 8
ANOTHER PROPERTY
CHIMU TUNIC WITH FRINGE,

LATE INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, CA. A.D. 900-1150


 
 
 
 
finely woven in brilliant colors with kneeling dignitaries in tule totora boats, composed of
two panels each with a symmetrically opposed scene, the long rafts each with upturned
bow with a bird diving into the jar balanced on the prow, the figures with hour-glass shaped
noses and wearing turbans falling to one side, the figures on the boats kneeling on splayed
feet, each holding an oar, with nets attached to each vessel with catch within, smaller
attendants in the field surrounded by flying water-birds and fish, each sleeve attached
separately with the same scene; generously trimmed by layered tassels with fringe below;
in wool on cotton warps in interlock weave.
37 in by 64 in (94 cm by 162.5 cm), as mounted

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Estate of Kate Kemper, London, (Arte Primitivo, New York, December 8, 2004, lot 410)
Kate Kemper, of London and Switzerland (1908-2004) was an early collector of Andean art, forming an important
collection of ceramics and textiles after visiting Peru. Her comprehensive collection was formed in Europe and
exhibited in various museums including Ancient Peruvian Art, at the Arts Council, London in 1962, and Alt Peru in
1972 at the Landesmuseum as noted below .

LITERATURE
Hans Eichler, Alt-Peru, Die Sammlung Kemper, Landesmuseum, Münster, pg. 73, cat. no. 464, catalogue to an
exhibition, March 5-April 9, 1972

CATALOGUE NOTE
This vibrant textile featuring a generous use of the prized cochineal red, is a rare depiction of the totora reed boats
and fishermen. The important fertilizer, guano, was a valued commodity for the seasonal valley agriculture and was
perhaps traded inland. Aquatic imagery is thus a natural theme that was expressed in a variety of artistic mediums
including the architectural friezes at the capital Chan Chan, and embossed on gold beakers. Graphic depictions of fish
are dominant in Pachacamac textiles (see Lavalle 1991: 268). This textile uses the entire "canvas" of the shirt to show
an informative, narrative scene. It is noteworthy that the leading ancestral figure to the Chimu, Naymlap, arrived by
boat to the Lambayeque coast.
The brillant scarlet red color was achieved by a labor intensive process of cultivating and harvesting the cochineal
beetle (genus dactylopius) which lives on the prickly pear cactus. Enormous numbers of dried and pulverized beetle
bodies and their carminic acid were needed to create a few ounces of dye. It was a highly valued commodity in
ancient and Colonial textile production (Stone-Miller 1992:126-127). The creation of a large elite textile such as this
was a community endeavor, requiring the commitment of many social groups, from dye makers to weavers.
For other examples of fishing scenes, see Lavalle Chimu (1988:207 and 213), Lavalle and Cardenas (1999: 486, pl.
4), and for a Huari example in The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., see Reid (2008:78). This textile is closely
related to a brilliantly colored mantle in the Amano Museum, Lima, see Lavalle and Cardenas (1999:472, pl. 27).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 9
PROPERTY FROM NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
DIQUÍS STONE FIGURE,
PERIOD VI, CA. A.D. 1000-1500
in peg-base form with a dramatically posed naked figure with arms crossed, uplifted
grinning head with large lunate eyes and flared nose, and bands extending across the
cheeks; in tan volcanic stone with orange earthen remains.
Height: 15 1/4 in (38.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Andre Emmerich, New York
William B. Jaffe & Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, acquired from the above on November 3, 1967
By descent from the above to the present owner
EXHIBITED
New York, Precolumbian Art in New York, Selections from Private Collections, The Museum of Primitive Art,
September 12-November 9, 1969, no. 197, illus.

CATALOGUE NOTE
The distinctive Diquís peg-base figures range from abstract and stylized forms, to more naturalistic, rounded figures.
They characteristically exhibit a forceful and imposing stance, and were likely placed in groups as protective
forces around compounds or burials.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 10
COSTA RICAN EFFIGY VESSEL, GUANACASTE-NICOYA REGION,

ROSALES  INCISED BICHROME,  LATE PERIOD IV, CA. 500


B.C.- A.D. 500
the fierce feline with long thick tail, hooded eyes and compact snout, forearms pressed
tightly to the body with paws projecting, incised with repeat circular pelt markings.
Length: 11 ½ in (29.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired in the 1960's

CATALOGUE NOTE
This zoomorphic double-spout vessel type, is also seen in the Chorrea style from Ecuador, and is similar to some
Preclassic Veracruz styles.
Cf. Katz, ed. (1985: pl .6), for the effigy type; see also Sotheby's, New York, May 9, 2006, lot 146, for the style.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 11
CHONTAL STONE SEATED FIGURE,
LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.
the distinctive face showing large coffeebean eyes, ridged brow and projecting knob at the
back of the head, with spine showing, and rounded arms folded tightly to the body; in
speckled green stone.
Height: 7 1/4 in (18.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-8,000 USD

PROVENANCE
J.J. Klejman, New York
William B. Jaffe & Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, acquired from the above on November 22, 1967
By descent from the above to the present owner

CATALOGUE NOTE
Cf. Gay and Gay (2001:pls. 60 and 66), for the hunchback type.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 12
TALL MEZCALA STONE FIGURE, TYPE M12,

LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.


with dramatic and sharply carved eyes and mouth, the arms in relief folded on the long
torso; in smoothed deep green metadiorite, with areas of red highlighting the eyes and
arms.

Height 15 in (38cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Milton Leoff Collection
Andre Emmerich, Inc., New York, acquired from the above, 1967
William B. Jaffe & Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, acquired from the above, January 1968
By descent from the above to the present owner
CATALOGUE NOTE
Cf. Gay and Pratt (1992: pls. 46 and 49), for the type.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 13
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
MEZCALA STONE STANDING FIGURE,

LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.


with large rounded humpback and head turned upward, the arms carved in relief and folded
on the waist; in gray green andesite.
Height: 4 ¼ in (10.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Alberto Uhlrich Collection
Acquired from the above in mid/late 1960's

EXHIBITED
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2002-2010

CATALOGUE NOTE
This unusual figure shares the smoothed head treatment typical of seated figures, often called
'stargazers". Hunchback figures were considered to have special powers of communication with the supernatural
world; cf. Gay and Pratt (1992: pl. 99), for the hunchback type as seated.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 14
PROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
CHONTAL STONE HEAD,
LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.
carved from a rounded cobble, with slightly puckered mouth, large pecked eyes, and
prominent nose, with distinctive neck flange and ears; in speckled porphyry, pierced at the
temples.
Height: 5 1/2 in (14 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-8,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Frances Pratt, Teochita Inc., New York
William B. Jaffe & Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, acquired from the above on January, 1969
By descent from the above to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 15
PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
MEZCALA STONE FIGURE,
LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.
of Type M18, with slightly turned torso and finely carved head accented by diagonal
grooves highlighting the cheeks and recessed mouth, and with short grooved arms low on
the body; in andesite.
Height: 7 3/4 in (19.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 3,000-5,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Ruth Josephson Collection, Toronto, (Sotheby's, New York, May 17/18, 2000, lot 238)
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 16
MEZCALA STONE FIGURE, TYPE M10,
LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300- 100 B.C.
with rounded belly and arms carved in relief, the elongated head distinguished by long
recessed mouth and prominent brow, with delicate narrow ear flanges; in speckled
andesite.
Height: 9 3/4 in (24.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 18,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
European private collection, (Sotheby's, New York, Novemer 18, 2000, lot 269)

LITERATURE
Carlo Gay and Frances Pratt, Mezcala, Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, Geneva, 1992, pl. 35
CATALOGUE NOTE
Carlo Gay characterizes the M10 style as 'the cardinal image' of the overall Mezcala tradition.
"At its best, the M-10 type epitomizes Mezcala sculpture, representing an optimal solution to carving a viable portrayal
of the human figure in an intractable material and with the simplest tools." (Gay and Pratt, 1992: 51).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 17
CHONTAL STONE FACE PANEL,

LATE PRECLASSIC,  CA. 300-100 B.C.


depicting a transformative state by incorporting ophidian features with the symmetrically
opposed arching snakes on the nose, each serpent with large circular eyes and textured
skin similar to the Mexican coral snake, the face with large pecked eyes possibly once
inlaid, and the ears adorned with ornaments; in variegated white and gray calcite with
traces of red pigment, pierced at the temples.
Height: 6 1/2 in (16.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Carlo Gay
Vicomte and Vicomtesse Ilya Prigogine, (Sotheby's, New York, May 19, 2001, lot 476)
EXHIBITED
New York, Guerrero, Stone Sculpture from the State of Guerrero, Mexico, Finch College Museum of Art, opening May
18, 1965, no. 201, illus.

LITERATURE
Carlo T.E. Gay, Ancient Ritual Stone Artifacts, Mexico-Guatemala-Costa Rica, Académie Royale de Belgique, 1995,
no. 104, illus.
Carlo and Robin Gay, Chontal, Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, Geneva, 2001, Pl. 122

CATALOGUE NOTE
The serpent is able to transverse the upper and lower worlds, and their seasonal shedding associates them to rebirth
and renewal. This mask appears to be a unique example of serpents forming the nose (Gay 1995:141); see also Gay
and Gay (2001: pl. 121.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 18
PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
SULTEPTEC STONE FACE PANEL,
LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.
the large face with lively stylized expression of the open squared mouth showing teeth,
nostrils indicated, and the aquiline nose curving into deeply recessed eyes under sharp
brows; of slender section with concave reverse, in creamy yellow onyx.
Height: 8 ¼ in (21 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
European Private Collection, (Sotheby's, New York, November 20, 1995, lot 91)

LITERATURE
G. Berjonneau, E. Deletaille and J.L. Sonnery, Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica, Boulogne, 1985, pl. 271
Carlo and Robin Gay, Chontal, Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero Mexico, Geneva, 2001, pl. 182

CATALOGUE NOTE
The Sultepec style is distinctive for the slender prominent noses, and the exclusive use of either onyx from the
stalagmites of Guerrero caves, or black obsidian.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 19
PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
LARGE MEZCALA STONE FIGURE, TYPE M10,
LATE PRECLASSIC, CA 300-100 B.C.
of statuesque form with slightly rounded chest, the face distinguished by darkened eyes,
minimal recessed mouth and sharp nose, with prominent brow and the top of the head
characteristically roughened; in speckled gray green stone.
Height: 13 in (33 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Carlo Gay, New York
Gerard Geiger Collection, (Sotheby's, New York, May 17/18, 2000, lot 95)

LITERATURE
Carlo Gay and Frances Pratt, Mezcala, Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, Geneva, 1992, pl. 37
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 20
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WILLIAM AND BETTY HAYS
MEZCALA STONE TEMPLE,

LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300-100 B.C.


the four column structure with a figure within and on top of the roof comb, with the edge of
the roof serrated; in calcite.
Height: 6 ¼ in (15.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970

Fig. 1
Betty Hays, circa 1955
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 21
MEZCALA STONE FIGURE, TYPE M10,

LATE PRECLASSIC, CA. 300 -100 B.C.


of sturdy build with the large head defined by pecked mouth and eyes, and with sharply
upturned grooved arms; in deep green stone with characteristic roughened top of the head.
Height: 10 1/4 in (26 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 22
JALISCO SEATED FEMALE FIGURE, AMECA STYLE,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
distinguished by her creamy white slip overall, with slender shins folded beneath and feet
turned inward, protective animated posture with arms raised, lips parted and rimmed eyes
slightly narrowed, wearing a skirt and her jewelry highlighted in orange brown pigment.

Height: 17 3/4 in (45.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970

CATALOGUE NOTE
Cf. Holsbeke and Arnaut (1998: pl. 82), and Kan, Meighan, Nicholson (1989: cat. no. 74).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 23
JALISCO STANDING BALLPLAYER, AMECA STYLE,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
in a firm stance with the ball readied, wearing a loincloth with tie at the back.
Height: 14 3/4 in (37.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970

CATALOGUE NOTE
The ballgame, with it's mythological symbolism and political usage, is one the defining features of ancient
Mesoamerica. See Whittington, ed. (2001: cat. nos. 43 and 46).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 24
JALISCO SEATED MALE FIGURE, AMECA STYLE,

PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250


with alert expression, the youthful figure with muscular form and sculpted hands, adorned
solely with armbands and beaded leg bands.
Height: 15 1/4 in (38.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-8,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 25
LARGE JALISCO SEATED COUPLE, SAN JUANITO STYLE,

PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250


the youthful ancestral pair of majestic proportions, each distinguished by the stylized
elongated heads with narrow, deeply slit eyes and mouth, and adorned with raised cicatrice
shoulder tatttoos, reddened collars, rounded headbands, tassel earrings, and armbands,
the male with long slender arms and hands on the raised knees, the female with diminutive
arms and palms open.
Heights: 26 in and 25 1/2 in (66 cm and 64.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-40,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Bloomingdales, New York, 1968
CATALOGUE NOTE
This monumental couple, with strikingly similar features, exemplifies the ancestral couple concept, perhaps identifying
a clan lineage or simply defining the primordial union. The San Juanito substyle from the Magdalena Basin region, is
one of the most abstract and stylized of the Jalisco regional types. For the style, see Kan, Meighan, Nicholson (1989:
cat. no. 80).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 26
JALISCO CEREMONIAL PLATFORM GROUP,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
the village festival with sixteen figures engaging in a lively ceremony, with eight male
musicians playing flutes and shaking rattles, three naked male dancers in the center, and
three females in long skirts on the perimeter, all with various headdresses.
Diameter: 13 in (33 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970

CATALOGUE NOTE
Village ceremonies were important annual activities, bringing together the community for harvest festivals or ancestor
celebrations. The platform groups form "...a visual text presenting an inventory of basic religious, social and economic
activities and the settings in which they took place". These sculptures can be linked to the archaeological finds of
circular ritual spaces in areas of Colima and Nayarit; see Townsend in Townsend, ed. (1998:108-109, and pgs. 109
and 133) for examples of platform groups.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 27
TWO CHINESCO FIGURES, TYPE C,

PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C. -A.D. 250


 
including a standing female with distinctive diagonal facial designs and sturdy legs, and a
seated figure leaning forward with arching facial designs and boldly painted loincloth.

Heights: 10 1/4 in and 9 1/2 in (26 cm and 24.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 28
NAYARIT SEATED COUPLE, IXTLÁN DEL RIO STYLE,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
the family group with the female nursing an infant and holding a small square vessel, the
male holding a ball, their compact forms with diminutive legs folded, adorned with large
multiple jewelry and resist body tattoos, the female in a striped skirt and patterned
headband, the male with peaked turban, animal pelt headband, and trunks.
Heights: 16 in and 17 3/4 in (40.7 cm and 45.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970

CATALOGUE NOTE
Cf. Butterwick (2004: cat. no. 35), for the Ixtlán couple type.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 29
VERACRUZ SEATED FEMALE FIGURE,
CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 450-650
of solid form with serene face, the ears pierced for ornaments and adorned with a necklace
with suspended beads, the tall headdress with bead medallions and fringe, and two olivella
shells embedded on the chest; remains of heavy encrustion.
Height: 13 3/4 in (38.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired before 1970

CATALOGUE NOTE
The personal inventory notebook of Betty Hays notes " Totonac-Maya influence woman, 2 shells".
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 30
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
MONUMENTAL CHINESCO SEATED FEMALE, LAGUNILLAS TYPE A,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
with youthful joy and confidence, the heart-shaped face with narrowed half-moon eyes
showing pupils, smiling mouth and high smooth cheekbones, the neatly striated coiffure
cropped short in the back, the ears and nose studded with multiple rings, and adorned with
numerous concentric painted necklaces above a delicate two-tiered bead collar, the
transparent net loincloth extending down her firm thighs and secured with tiny beaded
string around the waist, kneeling on thin forelegs folded beneath her.
Height: 23 5/8 in (60 cm)

ESTIMATE 150,000-200,000 USD

PROVENANCE
California private collection
Acquired from the above in mid 1970's
EXHIBITED
Chicago, Ancient West Mexico, Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, The Art Institute of Chicago, September 5-
November 22, 1998; traveling to
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 20, 1998- March 29, 1999
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2002-2010

LITERATURE
Richard F. Townsend, ed., Ancient West Mexico, Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past, Thames and
Hudson, 1998, pg. 123, Fig. 21, Cat. no. 202

CATALOGUE NOTE
The monumental Lagunillas figures from Nayarit are some of the most impressive hollow ceramics conceived in
ancient Mexico. This figure ranks amongst the largest of the female genre. Her stylized anatomy and distinctive face
give a more individualized depiction of the rite of passage of the pubescent female. The large Lagunillas type also
includes seated males of a more somber, pensive style; they may have been intended as mates in the aferlife.
See Holsbeke and Arnaut (1998: Fig. 95) for a large male figure of the type; see also Body and Cosmos, Sculptural
Art of Pre-Columbian Mexico, catalogue to the exhibition, Caixa Catalunya Foundation, (2004: cat. nos. 34, 35), for
figures with similar surface markings.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 31
PROPERTY FROM AMERICAN COLLECTIONS
COLIMA SEATED BROWNWARE FIGURE,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
with feet pressed together, the high round shoulders decorated with tattoos, small breasts,
and wearing a cap with upcurled brim.
Height: 16 in (40.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-8,000 USD

PROVENANCE
New York collection
Acquired from the above in 1979
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 32
COLIMA STANDING CARGADOR,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
the stout figure leaning forward as he holds the tumpline supporting the massive bundle of
cacti or other vegetal matter, the pectorals flexed, nostrils flared, and eyes closed to a slit,
wearing a meager loincloth and triple headband.
Height: 14 3/4 in (37.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

CATALOGUE NOTE
Before the arrival of large domesticated animals with the Spanish, the primary means of transport of goods and trade
items was by foot, via the tamemes or porters. For a similar figure carrying the same burden type, see Gallagher
(1983: fig. 11).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 33
COLIMA SEATED SHAMAN,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
distinguished by the disk ornaments on the shins, wrists and headdress, holding
implements, the mask-like face framed by tasseled band once inlaid, oval eyes similarly
once inlaid, and supporting a bag secured over the shoulder, with a spout at the back.
Height: 13 1/4 in (33.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-9,000 USD

CATALOGUE NOTE
Cf. Kan, Meighan, Nicholson (1989: cat. nos. 106, 113), also von Winning (1974: fig. 41).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 34
PROPERTY FROM A FLORIDA PRIVATE COLLECTION
A NAYARIT STANDING COUPLE, IXTLÁN DEL RIO STYLE,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C-A.D. 250
the lively, animated family with an infant nursing at the female's right shoulder, supporting
a knobbed jar on her head and each figure holding a vessel on the shoulder, distinguished
by detailed, brightly painted matching clothing of step/scroll patterned skirt and tunic, arm
and leg bands, patterned headbands, and jewelry, with whitened eyes and well defined
teeth.
Heights: 17 1/2 in and 16 3/4 in (44.5 cm and 42.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
American Private Collection, (Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, November 14,1973, lot 232, illus.)

CATALOGUE NOTE
This couple is notable for the densely patterned bright clothing and shared ornamentation. They are a family in
the prime of life. They each hold bowls which were important accoutrements of daily life, and significant as feasting
vessels in the afterlife. Such 'marriage couples' celebrate the primordial union of male and female forces.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 35
CHINESCO STANDING FIGURE, TYPE C,

PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250


in classic wide-legged stance on tiny arched feet with slender arms barely separated from
the torso, her heart-shaped head with ears pierced for ornaments and wearing a fine mesh
loincloth and armbands with pendants.
Height: 14 1/4 in (36.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Joyce Davidson Suskind, acquired while on honeymoon in Mexico with David Suskind in 1965
By descent in the family
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 36
COLIMA SEATED DRINKER WITH TROPHY HEAD,

PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D.  250


 
with trance-like expression and holding the ritual bowl to his lips, the trophy-head
suspended from the tie across his shoulder, with pierced ears and spout from the head.
Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 4,500-5,500 USD

CATALOGUE NOTE
A victorious warrior would have participated in ceremonies involving pulque, an important substance made from
agave. The trophy-head may be a hacha, or representing the head of an adversary; see Musée Rath, Mexique
(1999:cat. no. 80).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 37
COLIMA MASK,
PROTOCLASSIC, CA. 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
the rounded face with button-hole eyes, slender nose and pierced ears; suspension holes
at the temples and top of the head.

Height: 8 in (20.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD


African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 38
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
ZAPOTEC FIGURAL URN ON A PLATFORM, MONTE ALBAN IIIB,
CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 450-650
the finely modeled full standing figure in a ceremonial posture with hands raised, the
sensitively sculpted face with full lips and deeply set eyes with drilled pupils, elaborately
garbed in large bead necklace and surmounted by a massive plumed headdress centering
the squatting figure of Cocijo with buccal mask and large merlon-shaped brows, and limbs
outstretched to the sides, the back opening to an ovoid vessel.
Height: 17 in (43.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
European Private Collection, acquired in 1997
Sotheby's, New York, May 17/18, 2000, lot 135
EXHIBITED
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2002-2010

CATALOGUE NOTE
The finely detailed figural urns are believed to be receptacles for the spirit or pèe of the venerated ancestors to return
to. Some urns feature an expressive and unmasked face, such as this example, showing the accoutrements of
prestige and deity symbols on the clothing. Cf. Boos (1966: fig. 354, and fig. 59), for the facial type and the Cocijo
headdress ornament; see also Musée Rath, Mexique, Terre des Dieux (1998: cat. no. 154).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 39
PROPERTY SOLD BY THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
TEOTIHUACAN STONE MASK,
CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 450-650
sensitively carved with sculpted lips gently parted and wideset narrowing oval eyes
marked by pyrite and pigment remains, lines extending from the nostrils along the cheeks
and the high ears pierced and incised; of deep section, in mottled stone, pierced for
suspension at the top of the head, chin and four corners of the face.
Width: 8 in (20.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 125,000-175,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Mr. and Mrs. Julian R. Goldsmith, acquired in the 1960's, gift to The Art Institute of Chicago in 1991

EXHIBITED
Chicago, High Culture in the Americas before 1500, catalogue by Everett McNear, The Arts Club, November 15-
December 31, 1982, cat. no. 68, illus.
On view in The Art Institute of Chicago, 1992-2012

CATALOGUE NOTE
The great city of Teotihuacan was established by the 2nd century AD growing to one of the largest cities in the world
by the 6th century. The city's location and plan were based on the natural alignment of the sacred mountains and
caves in the area, and the manmade grid imposed uniformly along their axis. The stone masks are among the best
known, most emblematic and impressive forms of sculpture from this metropolis. Though their forms are idealized,
they were made in a variety of styles and proportions, differing also in the addition of pigment and stone and shell
inlay ornamentation. The masks, customized to represent various powerful deities, were attached to ceremonial effigy
figures and displayed at the most elite temples. Unlike large complete stone figures which may have been more
fixed to one location, the masks could be transported and used throughout the city and region.
See Berrin and Pasztory (1993:cat. nos. 24 and 26), for masks of similar style; see also a Teotihuacan mask found in
the Templo Mayor distinctly painted with red pigment (Les Azteques, Trésors du Mexique Ancien, an exhibition in
Museés Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, 1987:cat. no. 328).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 40
PROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
MAYA STONE HEAD HACHA,
LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950
the head of the God G distinguished by the barbels curling from the mouth, with hooded
scrolling brows over deeply sunken eyes, probably once inlaid, and wearing a long-lipped
monster headdress; in tan-orange stone.

Height: 9 in (22.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Milton Leoff Collection
Andre Emmerich, New York, acquired from the above in 1966
William B. Jaffe & Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, acquired from the above on June 13, 1968
By descent from the above to the present owner
EXHIBITED
New York, Precolumbian Art in New York, Selections from Private Collections, The Museum of Primitive Art,
September 12- November 9, 1969, no. 107, illus.

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a God G hacha of similar style in the Bliss Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., see Lothrop, Foshag
and Mahler (1957: cat. no. 26, Colorpl. XVII).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 41
ANOTHER PROPERTY
MAYA STONE HACHA OF A PELICAN HEAD,
LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D.  550-950
with elegantly curving openwork neck, long beak, deeply set eyes and scrolling
featherwork along the top of the head.
Length: 12 in (30.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Nayberg Estate, California, acquired in the 1960's
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 42
PROPERTY SOLD BY THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
TEOTIHUACAN STONE MASK,
CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 450-650
the broad youthful face with high rounded cheekbones, wide oval eyes and open mouth,
the ears pierced for ornaments; in translucent yellow-green stone.
Width: 7 1/2 in (19 cm)

ESTIMATE 75,000-125,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel A. Marx, gift to The Art Institute of Chicago, 1958
Samuel A. Marx (1885-1964) was an American architect and interior designer, known for working in the International
Modernist style. Some of his many projects include the May department store and Edward G. Robinson home in Los
Angeles, New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Alexander Hamilton Memorial in Chicago.

EXHIBITED
On view in The Art Institute of Chicago, early 1960's to 2012

CATALOGUE NOTE
The varying colors and translucency of tecali was a valued aesthetic in the Teotihuacan lapidary tradition. A
limegreen mask of a tecali variety was inventoried for Antonio de'Medici in 1621, now in the Museo degli Argenti,
Florence (Moctezuma and Olguin 2002: cat. no. 52).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 43
PROPERTY FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
LARGE TEOTIHUACAN STONE MASK,
CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 450-650
the broad serene face with wide eyes deeply drilled at the corners, under pronounced
arched brows, and slender ears pierced for ornaments; the reverse with a wide rim and
written with San Nicolas de Ranchos.
Width: 10 1/2 in (26.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Louise Bryant Collection, acquired prior to World War II, and donated to the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History in
the late 1930's, transferred to the Cincinnati Art Museum in 1989-1990
Cincinnati Art Museum, sold by Order of the Board of Trustees, (Sotheby's, New York, November 15, 1994, lot 127)
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 44
MAYA LIDDED BROWNWARE VESSEL,

EARLY CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 250-450


with projecting rows of cacao pods, each pierced and scored, and embellished with
extensive remains of blue-green and pink stucco, the lid with a curving stem as rattle
handle, supported overall on tripod slab rattle feet.
Height: 7 ½ in (19 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
European Collection, (Sotheby's, New York, May 20, 1986, lot 89)
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 45
MAYA TWO- PART FIGURAL VESSEL,
EARLY CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 250-450
the vividly polychromed rotund figure forming a lidded vessel of thin even section, in
trance-like repose with puffy slit eyes and full lips parted, jowled cheeks, regally poised in
full cross-legged style with feet carefully modeled, the arms folded in ritual gesture, the
body boldly painted with swirling interlaced bands of serpentine form, wearing a beaded
collar with pendant ornaments, earrings and the upswept headdress with avian headband
and openwork crest above perhaps serving as a vent.
Height: 9 in (22.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 80,000-100,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Stendahl Gallery
Peter G. Wray Collection, acquired from the above in 1977
Andrew Crispo and the Andrew Crispo Gallery, (Sotheby's, New York, May 27, 1998, lot 147)
EXHIBITED
New York, Fine Pre-Columbian Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter G. Wray, Harmer Rooke Galleries,
October 9, 1984-January 5, 1985, fig. 173

CATALOGUE NOTE
See also Berjonneau, Deletaille and Sonnery (1985: no. 405), for a female polychrome figure of related style, and ibid
. no. 341, for a brownware two-part figural vessel of related type.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 46
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
LARGE MAYA POLYCHROME VESSEL WITH DEITIES,

LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950


finely painted with a complex scene incorporating four events and multiple depictions of
deities including the Maize god and the Hero Twins, featuring a palace scene of a lord
against a jaguar skin pillow, seated on a bench throne carved with skyband signs
indicating the supernatural realm, his regalia including massive feathered headdress with a
long-snouted monster head, large jade necklace and jewelry, behind him a kneeling
attendant (perhaps the Maize god) with tonsured head, long hank of hair swept up with
monster head ornament, his body spotted and wearing a segmented belt yoke, a figure
kneeling before the lord with a scorpion tail trailing from his belt, a skeletal death god
crouching in front, the kneeling figure above marked by triple spots on the body, indicative
of the Hero Twin Yax Balam, with jaguar skin medallion in the hair, and holding forth a
small creature, behind are two registers with encounters between the Hero Twins and
various Underworld figures including a long-necked spotted moan bird, the crouching God
N emerging from a shell, figures emitting foul odors, and an aged seated deity holding a
staff, with a Primary Standard Sequence text around the rim noting the vessel for the
drinking of fresh cacao, the glyph texts in the ground noting the elite name of the vessel
owner (or who is was gifted to) as indicated by the glyph lord 'ahau'.
Height: 9 1/2 in (24.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 75,000-100,000 USD

PROVENANCE
European Private Collection, acquired in the 1970's
Emile Deletaille, Brussels, acquired from the above, 1980's

EXHIBITED
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2005-2010

CATALOGUE NOTE
This complex scene is masterfully painted with a creative spatial design of the lively encounters of the Underworld
lords and the Hero Twins as referenced in the narratives of the Popul Vuh. Here the crouching figures are stacked in
two tiers in animated confrontations. Interpretations of the complex figures are varied, Reents-Budet
(pers.comm.) identifies the Hero Twins and a third personage behind the throne; Kerr (pers. comm.) draws on
the association of the scorpion with the Maize god (as referenced on mayavase.com, K1226, and K4565), and
thus the figure shown behind the lord on the throne is the same person shown kneeling before him, both being a
version of the Maize deity, the father of the Hero Twins. The essential narrative is focused on the
numerous interactions of the Underworld deities with the mythical ancestors.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 47
PROPERTY FROM AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
MAYA LIDDED BROWNWARE EFFIGY VESSEL
EARLY CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 250-450
the rotund monkey with open mouth howling with teeth bared, muscular and tensed arms,
with incised and scrolling ruff along the back of the head, the shoulder trimmed by
beadwork, possibly cacao pods, and incised with concentric diamonds, the base with thin
bent legs and phallus resting on the belly, a spout as tail and supported on cylindrical
tripod feet.
Height: 10 1/4 in (26 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
New York collection
California Private Collection acquired from the above in 1988
Sotheby's, New York, May 17/18, 2000, lot 150
CATALOGUE NOTE
For spider monkey hoarding cacao pods, as shown on a lid, see Miller and Martin (2004:87, pl. 40).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 48
PAIR OF MAYA FLUTED POLYCHROME VESSELS,
LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950
boldly painted in each side with a glyph trimmed by bifurcated elements, one vase with the
four part kin, or sun sign, the other possibly of ha or water, the basal and primary rims with
remains of bright blue stucco.
Heights: 6 1/2 in each (16.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired in the 1960's
By descent to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 49
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
LARGE MAYA POLYCHROME TRIPOD PLATE WITH DEITY,

LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950


boldly painted with the seated figure of the aged God L holding forth a bundle of tobacco
leaves, his animated face surmounted by the avian headdress of a wide-mouthed moan
bird, plumes flowing back, and wearing a fringed cape, perhaps a jaguar pelt, a long strand
of beads hanging front and back, supported on a stone dais with a tall tripod pot behind
covered by a jaguar pelt, the tondo encircled by a skyband indicating the supernatural
location of the scene, pseudo-glyphs in the field and a glyphic phrase trimmed by jaguar
spots around one side; supported overall on tripod feet with finely serrated rim below.
Width: 16 3/4 in (42.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD


PROVENANCE
Emile Deletaille, Brussels

EXHIBITED
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2005-2010

CATALOGUE NOTE
Native tobacco, nicotiana rustica, known to the Maya as 'picietal' was an important medicinal and ritual substance that
has been a key element of shamanic and curing practises throughout the Americas. The intoxicating effect was nearly
hallucinogenic; a number of Spanish chroniclers from the 16th C. to as late as the 19th C, witnessed with awe the
effects. "...It must be handled cautiously because it is dangerous, it takes away the judgement from those who take it,
and makes them behave foolishly and wildly'. (Robicsek 1978:44).
The "Smoking Gods' are God K and God L, two of the principal Underworld lords. Among their many attributues are
the bifurcated 'smoke scroll' and zoomorphic form. For an Early Classic carved vase of the God L in all his refinery,
see Robicsek (1978: pl. 102), see also mayavase.com K8469 for a palace scene of smoking figures.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 50
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
ZAPOTEC STONE RELIEF WITH RABBIT,

POSTCLASSIC, CA. A.D. 900-1200


carved with a rabbit seated on a raised dais, baring teeth and with forepaws raised, and
long ear flattened to the back; in limestone.
18 1/2 in by 18 1/2 in (47 cm by 47 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-20,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired prior to 1970

EXHIBITED
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2002-2010
CATALOGUE NOTE
This low relief yet well defined style of carving is characteristic of the Monte Alban region. The carving may function as
place name marker, with the raised dais which the rabbit sits upon emblematic of a mountain. The rabbit was
the eighth day in the Zapotec calender. See the murals of Monte Alban Tomb 104 for a similar depiction; see
also Huajuapan stone carvings, Paddock (1970:185, fig. 209).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 51
PROPERTY FROM AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
MAYA POLYCHROME VASE WITH STANDING FIGURES, ULÚA VALLEY
REGION,
LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950
densely painted with a procession of four elaborately garbed dignitaries dancing with arms
extended front and back, with massive plumed headdresses, belts and tie-dyed loincloths
with bundled sashes, the long limbs distinctively blackened, a band of repeat pseudo-
glyphs around the rim.
Height: 5 3/8 in (13.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired in the 1960's
By descent to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 52
MAYA STUCCO DIGNITARY TORSO,
LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950
turned to the right and counterbalanced by the torso slightly twisted to the left, the relaxed
face with almond-shaped eyes and full lips, wearing a turban headdress, and layered collar
secured by a medallion the shoulder, covered overall with remains of red pigment and
traces of blue.

Height: 18 1/2 in (47 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired in the 1960's
Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 1996, lot 176
CATALOGUE NOTE
For a similar style of animated figure, see Musée Rath, Mexique, Terre des Dieux (1998: cat. no. 222).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 53
LARGE MAYA PAINTED STUCCO HEAD,
LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950
the confident and austere face with squared proportion, full parted lips, almond-shaped
eyes cast downward, and high smooth cheekbones, with a thin colored headband securing
the elements of a monster deity headdress rising above.
Height: 15 1/4 in (38.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Christie's, New York, December 13, 1980, lot 306
Acquired at the above and by descent to the present owner

CATALOGUE NOTE
The public display of grand portrait images in stucco and stone are key artistic developments in the Maya
world starting in the Preclassic era; see Fields and Reents-Budet (2005:163, cat. no. 62).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 54
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
MIXTEC POLYCHROME FIGURAL VESSEL OF CHICOMECOATL, MIXTECA-
PUEBLA STYLE,
POSTCLASSIC, CA. A.D. 1000-1500 
the barrel-shaped vessel applied in low and high relief with a brightly polychromed deity
Chicomecoatl, the head dramatically projecting with a sculpted and attentive expression,
the arms bent at the sides and hands on the chest, adorned with a painted collar trimmed
by copper bells, flaring counterweight cotton tassels over the shoulder, with a bead
trimmed skirt and fully modeled ear ornaments, and with a chevron band around the
perimeter, the back painted with large bundles symbolic of chalchiuhuitl, jade.
Height: 11 1/8 in (28.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Florida private collection, acquired in 1970's
EXHIBITED
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2002-2010

LITERATURE
Gérald Berjonneau, Jean-Louis Sonnery and Emile Deletaille, Rediscovered Masterpieces of Mesoamerica, Boulogne,
1985, fig. 183

CATALOGUE NOTE
Chicomecoatl is the patron of vegetation and the most important deity of the maize cult. She is adorned with signs of
fertility such as the large jade symbols around the back of this vase; white cotton tassels are other characteristics of
her dress; see the large polychrome vessel for Chicomecoatl/ Tlaloc (Moctezuma and Olguin 2002: cat. no. 284). The
Mixteca- Puebla style applies broadly to the Postclassic geographic region, and is noted for the distinctive black
outlined, brightly colored ceramics. There is a strong similarity between these ceramics and the Postclassic painted
codices. The creative interplay of the vessel form against the varied applique elements of the human figure give an
abstract quality to the graphic clarity of the overall figure.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 55
ANOTHER PROPERTY
MAYA JADE NECKLACE WITH HEAD PENDANT,
LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550-950
the dignitary's head with large eyes, full lips, and wearing earrings, adorned with a massive
avian head as headdress, with carefully drilled nostrils, short downturned beak and
rounded eyes; pierced laterally for suspension and strung with a suite of brilliant apple
green jade beads.
Height of pendant: 2 in (5 cm); length of necklace overall 18 in (45.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
New York private collection, (Sotheby's, New York, May 27, 1998, lot 145) for the head pendant.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 56
PROPERTY FROM THE STOKES FAMILY COLLECTION
MAYA LIMESTONE EFFIGY CARVING,
LATE CLASSIC/EARLY POSTCLASSIC, CA. A.D. 800-1200
the dramatic face transitioning to a skeletal form with bulging eyes, high rounded cheeks,
fleshless nose and grinning teeth, adorned with triple pendant ornament beneath the chin,
and emerging overall from a semi-columnar form .

Height: 12 1/8 in (31.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 50,000-60,000 USD

EXHIBITED
Kalamazoo, 3000 Years of Pre-Columbian Art, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, December 3, 1964-January 3, 1965,
checklist no. 76, illus.
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, 2002-2010
CATALOGUE NOTE
The daunting and powerful images of the tzompantli, or skull racks, were prominent features of Late Classic and
Postclassic architecture such as the well known example at Chichen Itza. Despite the fearsome effect of the
repeated imagery, skeletal forms are closely associated with fertility and renewal in the Mesoamerican
worldview. In the later Aztec era, Mictlantecuhtli is often shown with rounded lively eyes as if reborn; see Moctezuma
and Olguin (2002: cat. no. 141) for a vessel of the deity; see also the clay model and a drawing of one of the twin
pyramids of Tenochtitlan showing the roof comb lined with skulls (Pasztory 1983: 291, Pl. 305; and pg. 113, Pl. 55).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 65
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
MOSSI TWO-TIERED CONTAINER, BURKINA FASO
Height: 27 3/4 in (70.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Eric Robertson, New York
Private Collection, acquired from the above, 1970s
By descent to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 66
PROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
BAMANA FIGURAL DOORLOCK, MALI
Height: 29 in (73.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Robert Stolper, Los Angeles and New York, 1950s (inv. no. "4643")
Acquired by the present owner from the above on April 19, 1959
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 67
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
MOSSI STOOL, BURKINA FASO
3 3/4 in by 5 7/8 in by 15 3/4 in (9.5, 14.9, 40 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Acquired by the present owner in Burkina Faso in 1968
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 68
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, HOUSTON
MOSSI FERTILITY DOLL, BURKINA FASO
Height: 10 1/2 in (26.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Joel Cooner, Dallas
Private Collection, Houston, acquired from the above on March 3, 1998

EXHIBITED
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, permanent exhibition, August 5, 1998 - September 27, 2011
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 69
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
BAMANA ZIGZAG FIGURE, MALI
Height: 27 ¼ in (67.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 400,000-600,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Charles Ratton, Paris
Sam Wagstaff, Detroit, acquired from the above
William Rubin, New York, acquired from the above
Alain Bovis, Paris, acquired from the above through Jan Krugier Gallery, New York
Private European Collection, acquired from the above
Acquired by the present owner from the above

EXHIBITED
The Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, The Art of Black Africa: A Survey of African Sculpture from Collections in the Midwest,
February 8 – April 5, 1970
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Primitivism in 20th Century Art, New York, September 27, 1984 – January 15,
1985
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture, November 19, 2002 – July 6,
2003
Monnaie de Paris, Paris, Regards de Marchands, September 9 – October 18, 2009

LITERATURE
The Flint Institute of Arts (ed.), The Art of Black Africa: A Survey of African Sculpture from Collections in the Midwest,
Flint, 1970, p. 2, cat. 1
William Rubin (ed.), Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, 1984, vol. 2, p.
329
Warren M. Robbins and Nancy I. Nooter, African Art in American Collections. Survey 1989, Washington D.C., 1989, p.
71, fig. 51
Alisa LaGamma, Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture, New York, 2002, p. 120, cat. 75
Elena Martínez-Jacquet and Bérénice Geoffrey-Schneiter, Regards de Marchands: La Passion des Arts Premiers,
Paris, 2009, p. 113

CATALOGUE NOTE
This magnificent Bamana sculpture, previously in the collections of two of the great connoisseurs of African art of the
twentieth century, Charles Ratton and William Rubin, displays an extremely rare zoo-anthropomorphic iconography,
combining an elongated multi-segmented zigzag body in vertical orientation with a humanoid head and two long
zoomorphic ears. Only two comparable sculptures are known: one in the Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg (inv. no.
"11.1.469", acquired from Leo Frobenius), and a second previously in the collection of Gaston de Havenon, New York
(published in Museum of African Art 1971: fig. 59). The offered lot, however, is distinguished from the other two works
by the rendering of the zigzag body in openwork design, a virtuoso feature extremely difficult to carve and a testament
to the outstanding skill of the artist.
While all three figures have been previously identified as belonging to the much larger corpus of antelope and other
zoomorphic figures used by the chi wara power association (for further discussion see Colleyn 2001: 201 et seq.), the
type of the offered lot has recently been identified as headdress accompanying ton performances of a dance known
as nama tyétyé (LaGamma 2002: 121, with reference to Pascal James Imparato).
In her discussion of the offered lot on the occasion of the exhibition Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, LaGamma (2002: 121) comments: "Lucid and graphically precise, the startling design
of this headdress conveys a sense of kinetic upward momentum, like a release of energy. At the top, the rounded
volume of the head is relatively human, with elongated oval ears that project vertically. The neck, mane, and body,
however, are reduced to a vertical, accordion-like column - essentially a long zigzag - that is pierced along its central
axis by a channel of negative space. The resulting 'passageway' in the center is thus flanked on either side by the
complementary zigzag walls. The bisection of the column creates three powerful jagged lines inside one basic form
and contributes to the work's apparent flexibility. The subtracted core also heightens the visual impact of the zigzag,
otherwise a relatively simple graphic motif. [...]
"The zigzag motif has been interpreted by some scholars of Bamana culture as having great symbolic resonance,
such as an illustration of the trajectory of the Sun around Earth. Zahan notes that this is referred to by the Bamana as
tle ka sira gondi, or 'the zigzag path of the sun.' The motif also relates to mathematical methods used by Bamana and
Dogon to represent geometrically, and to transpose onto a flat surface, empirically observed spiral motions of
heavenly bodies. On another level, the zigzag has been described as a metaphor for accounts of epic journeys.
Solange de Ganay notes that in the past, ideas of how Bamana culture heroes traveled through heaven and Earth
within the sphere of cosmic space were so precise and detailed that diagrams were made to illustrate their passage.
In these traditions, Faro, who put the created world in order and Mousi Koroni, the wife of the creator, are regarded as
both complementary and antagonistic elements. According to de Ganay, the zigzag line was sometimes used to
represent their journeys as well as the path of the planet Venus."

Fig. 1
View of Constantin Brancusi? workshop at 11 Impasse Ronsin,
Paris, circa 1929, showing Princesse X, L?a, Plante exotique, and
Colonnes sans Fin I ?III

Fig. 2
Richard Serra, Sight Point (For Leo Castelli), 1972-75, Stedelijk
Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam. ?2012 Richard Serra / Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 70
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
DOGON FOUR-HEADED FIGURE, MALI
Height: 9 3/4 in (24.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
John J. Klejman, New York
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, October 11, 1974, lot 8
Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, New York, acquired at the above auction
Private Collection, New York, acquired from the above in June 1996
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 71
PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
DOGON BOMBOU-TORO RITUAL VESSEL, MALI
Height: 30 1/2 in

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
John J. Klejman, New York
William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above on April 27, 1967
By descent from the above to the present owner

CATALOGUE NOTE
The cubistic style reflected in the columnar bodies, engraved linear decoration, and distinctive heads of the figures on
the present sculpture, with downward-pointed arrow shaped noses and ridged, notched coiffures and projecting chin
beards, are the hallmarks of the Dogon Bombou-Toro style, originating from the center of the Southern Bandiagara
cliff (Leloup 1994: 154-159). Several stylistically closely related works count amongst the most iconic Dogon
artworks: cf. the Wunderman Couple in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. "1977.394.15", most
recently published on the cover of Tribal Art, Hors-Serie/Special Issue #2: Chefs-d'œuvre DOGON Masterworks,
2011); the couple in the Barnes Foundation, Lower Merion (inv. no. "AI97"); a seated figure in the
Menil Collection, Houston (inv. no. "X2034"), and the seated figure formerly in the collections of Georges de Miré,
Louis Carré, Jacop Epstein, and Carlo Monzino (Leloup 1994: pls. 74-75).
Vessels such as the offered lot were used to hold food consumed during the investment rituals of Dogon religious and
political leaders known as hogon. A closely related vessel, possibly by the same hand as the offered lot and also with
Klejman provenance, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. "1979.206.173a-c").
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 72
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
DOGON FEMALE FIGURE, OGOL CIRCLE OF ARTISTS, MALI
dege dal nda.
Height: 24 1/2 in (62.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 250,000-350,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Henri Kamer or René Rasmussen, Paris
John J. Klejman, New York, acquired from the above
Paul and Rosemary Desjardins, Haverford, Pennsylvania, acquired from the above April 1, 1971
By descent to the present owner

EXHIBITED
Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Three African Traditions: The Art of the Dogon, Fang, and Songye,
January 31 - April 18, 1999; additional venue:
Museum for African Art, New York, April 30 - August 15, 1999

LITERATURE
Allen Wardwell, Three African Traditions: The Art of the Dogon, Fang, and Songye, Greenwich, 1999, p. 6, cat. 2
Bernard de Grunne, "A Great Dogon Artist: The Master of Ogol", Tribal Art, Hors-Serie/Special Issue #2: Chefs-
d'œuvre DOGON Masterworks, 2011, pp. 28 and 35, fig. 13

CATALOGUE NOTE
In his preface to Hélène Leloup's important monograph Dogon Statuary, William Rubin, Director Emeritus of the
Museum of Modern Art in New York and organizer of the 1984 landmark exhibition "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art,
notes (Rubin in Leloup 1994: 17): "Paradoxically, the art of [the Dogon people...] is closer in spirit to modern sculpture
than almost anything else in Africa. The plasticity of the greatest Dogon carvings must be compared – in quality as
well as nature – with that of Brancusi or (the Cubist) Lipchitz. I say 'paradoxically' because (except for possible rare
stray pieces) Dogon sculpture was unknown to that pioneer generation of twentieth century modernists (except in
some cases at the end of their careers). One cannot but imagine how the Brancusi or Lipchitz (or, for that matter, the
Picasso or Matisse) of 1915 would have savored the great Dogon pieces we know today. How much more than most
of the African material then at hand these sculptures would have confirmed those modernists in the daring solutions
they were undertaking."
And Kate Ezra (1988: 15) continues: "The Dogon captured the imagination of European and American artists and
intellectuals in the 1930s with the austere beauty and isolation of their environment, the power of their sculpture, and
the richness of their rituals, but we have still not fully understood the history and meaning of their art. The Dogon live
in one of West Africa's most spectacular landscapes. Their home is the Bandiagara Escarpment, a row of cliffs
stretching 125 miles from southwest to northeast, parallel to the Niger River. The steep cliffs, some of them almost two
thousand feet high, are cut in massive blocks separated by natural gorges, their sharp-edged faces punctuated by
caves. The cliffs make access to Dogon villages difficult, and even though the center of Dogon country is only about
90 miles from the ancient commercial city of Jenne [Djenne], visitors to Dogon country since the beginning of the
twentieth century have stressed the sense of isolation and remoteness that pervades the cliffs. According to oral
traditions, the Dogon chose to settle on the cliffs precisely because of their inaccessibility. They have provided a place
of refuge from attacks by neighbouring ethnic groups, which over the past five hundred years have included the
Mossi, Songhai [Songhay] and Fulani."
Dogon statuary is linked to "a vast body of myths pertaining to the creation of the universe, the struggle between order
and disorder, and the place of mankind within it" (Ezra 1988: 16). Human figures often represented ancestors or
mythical heroes such as the founders of a village or lineage. Figures like the offered lot have been identified as
portraits of Ya Kamma, "the great female ancestor of the Dogon – Wife (sister) of Kamma (the first ancestor)" (Cissé
in Falgayrettes-Leveau 2000: 120).
The offered lot belongs to a group of seventeen figures which all share a series of features (see de Grunne 2011: 16-
35). All are of female gender and in standing position with bent legs, long slender torso framed by openwork arms
bent at the elbows. The vertical trunk is rendered within a more or less elliptical diameter from which conical breasts
and a similar-shaped umbilicus protrude. The head features a T-shaped nose, C-shaped ears, a thin cylindrical
protrusion below the chin representing a labret as was fashion among Dogon women. The labret is counter-balanced
by a dorsal braid falling down the nape of the neck. Several of these sculptures are in major institutional collections
including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. "1977.394.20", previously in the collection of Lester
Wunderman, published in Ezra 1988: 53, fig. 14); Rietberg Museum, Zurich (inv. no. "RAF 252", previously in the
collections of Georges de Miré and Eduard von der Heydt, exhibited in 1935 at the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition
African Negro Art, published in Sweeney 1935: no. 17); Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (previously Musée de l'Homme,
inv. no. "1935.60.371", published in Leloup 2011: 285, fig. 51); and The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C. (inv. no. "2005-6-38", previously in the collection of Paul and Ruth Tishman, published in
Kreamer 2007: 83, fig. 22).
Based on the aforementioned similarities it has been suggested (de Grunne 2011: 28) that sixteen out of seventeen
works are creations by a single artist who, based on the location in which one of the figures has been collection,
should be called "The Master of Ogol." However, the dissimilarities between several of these works (e.g., the
treatment and position of the arms, hands and legs, the presence, position and carving of the armlets, the rendering of
the eyes and coiffure) are so variable that it seems more appropriate to speak of artists from the "Ogol Circle," in the
sense of a workshop tradition rather than a single artist.
The offered lot is distinguished by the extreme angularity of the arm, elbow, and wrist (rendered in ninety-degree
angles) which is not seen in any other of the seventeen works by Ogol artists. The absence of eyes which is shared
by a figure previously in the Bronson Collection (see ibid: 23, fig. 7) and possibly also by the figures in the Rietberg
Museum (ibid: 16, fig. 1) and Dapper Museum (ibid: 30, fig. 17), although the surface condition of both figures is such
that this cannot be determined with absolute certainty. The incised cross-hatched pattern at the bottom edge of the
crested coiffure is a feature that is also seen in the figure at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian
Institution (ibid: 22, fig. 6).
The largest group of figures by artists from the Ogol Circle that was ever assembled in private hands was that of Paul
and Rosemary Desjardins, both professors of philosophy at Haverford College, Pennsylvania. In addition to the
offered lot, the Desjardins owned three other works by Ogol artists (cf. de Grunne 2011: 34-35, figs. 4, 8, 14). After
years of study, Paul Desjardins was excited when he was able to acquire the offered lot and also advanced his own
theory on the iconographic meaning of Ogol figures in general (letter to Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Klejman, February 15, 1971,
pp. 1-2): "As a working hypothesis, I'd venture that their being brought up from the house to the terrace at times of
funerals has to do with the theme of death and resurrection, not merely of a particular corpse, but of La Terre, which
receives the Word from Heaven as the fields receive the millet, the mother the male sperm, or the tribe the law. She
represents, I suspect, the act of receiving and of being resurrected or born anew. Her knees are bent as she rises (in
the larger figure [= the offered lot] the dynamic movement is suggested further by her slight turning to the side). [...]
One of the greatest things about the large N'gol figure [= the offered lot] is the way it manages to suggest interiority of
vision in leaving out the eyes, a conventional device which isn't always successful. Also I find the thighs and breasts
convincingly human: they both arouse and sublimate energies; one gets to encounter in her more than just a human
being [..., she] really manifests sublimity. [...] When you showed us the large one, you were providential: it's the
chance of a lifetime..."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 73
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
BAMANA ANTELOPE HEADDRESS, MALI
chiwara.
Height: 23 1/4 in (59.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Julius Carlebach, New York, inventory number "25052"
Herman Elkon, New York, acquired from the above on December 24, 1960
By descent from the above to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 74
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
BAMANA ANTELOPE HEADDRESS, MALI
n'gonzon koun.
Height: 11 1/2 in (29.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
John J. Klejman, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, New York, acquired from the above on March 8, 1974
Private Collection, New York, acquired from the above in June 1996
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 75
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
BAMANA FEMALE SOGO BO MARIONETTE HEAD, SEGOU REGION, MALI
Height: 30 1/2 in (77.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 60,000-90,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Alain de Monbrison, Paris
Private American Collection, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
According to Mary Jo Arnoldi (in Colleyn 2001: 78), "Sogo bo [masquerade] performances are important sites for the
exploration of the moral universe. Even though they are defined as entertainment, troupes proceed with a seriousness
of purpose, often mediated by wit and humour, to examine the nature of their world and their lived experiences. [...
The] theater has constituted an important avenue through which young Bamana men and women have gained access
to knowledge, instruction and experience in contemplating and actualizing critical beliefs and values within their
communities."
And she continues (loc. cit.: 77): "Sogo bo did not originate with the Bamana, but with the Bozo fishermen. By the late
nineteenth century, however, Bamana within Segou began to adopt the masquerade theater and throughout the last
century it flourished in these farming communities. Within Segou, people's sense of the Sogo bo regional identity and
its uniqueness as a genre is based upon perceptions of its origins within Segou; its pan-ethnic endorsement; its close
identification with local youth associations; and the particular constellations of expressive forms and dramatic
characters that are considered unique to the theater. [...] The theater is organized into a series of discrete
masquerade sequences that are punctuated by short intervals of song and dance. Each sequence consists of a single
dramatic character [...]. In most communities the masquerades are voiceless and are accompanied by drumming and
by songs performed by a lead singer and women's chorus."
For a closely related head collected in situ by F.-H. Lem between 1934-35 and previously in the collection of Helena
Rubinstein see Lem (1948: pl. 13), Slesin (2003: 107) and Sotheby's Parke-Bernet, The Helena Rubinstein Collection
, April 21, 1966, lot 66.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 76
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
DOGON FEMALE FIGURE, MALI
Height: 12 1/2 in

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, New York, acquired before 1971

CATALOGUE NOTE
The pose of the present figure relates to the group of sculptures attributed to the Kambari region, on the Southern
Bandiagra Plateau, which frequently depict the figure seated on the ground with knees bent upwards, elbows on the
knees, the angle of the arms mirroring the angle of the legs; see Leloup (1994: plates 69-73). The placement of the
hands on the breasts is a gesture rarely seen in Dogon statuary, and probably refers to fecundity. A grid like pattern
of scarification is visible on the back, and the whole figure is covered with an even crust of sacrificial material.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 77
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, FRANCE
BAMANA HYENA MASK FOR THE KORE SOCIETY, MALI
Height: 15 1/2 in (39.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, France

EXHIBITED
Musée d'Archéologie et d'Histoire, Le Mans, Masques d'Afrique, May 12 - August 29, 2010

LITERATURE
Hélène Joubert and Marceau Rivière, Masques d'Afrique, Le Mans, 2010, p. 43, cat. 37

CATALOGUE NOTE
Among the Bamana, the six initiation societies called jow are of profound social significance. "The completion of
intellectual and spiritual education offered by these societies takes place within the final one, the kore. Here each
adolescent man has to pass through specific rituals in order to enter into manhood. The kore society comprises eight
classes or grades, each with a different level of initiation and having its own emblem" (van Damme in Kooten and
Heuvel 1990: 42). The hyena (suruku) is the emblem of one of these classes and represents greed and
insatiableness. As van Damme (loc. cit.) explains, this symbolizes "the limited, day-to-day human knowledge far
removed from divine wisdom. He who wishes to attain this wisdom - and this is the goal of the initiated - should be
equipped with self-knowledge and self-control [...] and willing to devote [himself] to the search for true wisdom."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 78
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND RICHARD ULEVITCH, SAN DIEGO
QUR'ANIC PRAYER BOARD, POSSIBLY HAUSSA OR NUPE, NIGERIA
21 1/2 in by 12 3/4 in (54.6, 32.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Bonham's Knowle, Pictures including Maps & Marine, Furniture & Works of Art, September 7, 2010, lot 291
Susan and Richard Ulevitch, San Diego, acquired at the above auction

CATALOGUE NOTE
Siegmann (2009: 280) remarks: "Traders brought Islam to northern and western Africa from the Middle East as early
as the eighth century. The study of Arabic (the language of the Qur'an) is an integral part of Islamic religious
training. Students use wooden writing boards to practice their calligraphy and to help them memorize Qur'anic
verses. Itinerant mystics (Sufis) also use boards to write specific verses in response to supplicants' problems or
requests. These verses may relate to the healing of diseases or solutions to particular types of problems."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 79
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND RICHARD ULEVITCH, SAN DIEGO
MAHDIST REPLICA THROWING KNIFE, SUDAN
Length: 16 3/8 in (41.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Richard Ulevitch, San Diego

CATALOGUE NOTE
For closely related replica knifes see two in the Manchester Museum, University of Manchester (inv. nos. "0.8720" and
"0.5036", Phillips 1995: 134, cats. 2.15a and 2.15b) and one in the Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva (Elsen 2003: pl.
15).
In his discussion of the two Manchester replica knifes, Christopher Spring (in Phillips 1995: 134) notes: "The
increasing unrest among the peoples of central and eastern Sudanic Africa during the 19th century culminated in the
rebellion of 1881 in Kordofan Province, Sudan, led by Muhammad Ahmad, who declared himself Mahdi ('The Rightly
Guided One'). By 1885 he had overthrown the corrupt Turco-Egyptian government in Khartoum and had established
the Mahdist state. [...] Peoples from a vast area of north-eastern and central Africa joined the Mahdist armies, either of
their own free will or as slaves. Workshops set up in towns such as Omdurman produced a range of artefacts,
including regalia, weaponry and armor, which in one way or another reflected the Mahdist ideology, but which
occasionally also displayed stylistic influences from much more diverse sources. Among such objects were these non-
functional, replica throwing knives, cut out of sheet metal and covered with the acid-etched Arabic script known as
thuluth, in which exhortations to the faithful from the Koran are written. [... Most likely] they were given as Islamicised
(though still potent) status symbols to the leaders of those elements of the Mahdist armies that consisted mainly of
central African slaves." The offered lot dates before the Mahdist state was effectively dissolved in 1898.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 80
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DRS. NICOLE AND JOHN DINTENFASS, NEW
YORK
TUAREG CUSHION SUPPORT, NIGER
ehel.
Height: 49 1/4 in (125 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Drs. Nicole and John Dintenfass, New York, acquired in the 1980s

EXHIBITED
Royal Academy of Arts, London, Africa: The Art of a Continent, October 4, 1995 - January 21, 1996; additional venue:
Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, March 1 - May 1, 1996
Guggenheim Museum, New York, Africa: The Art of the Continent. 100 Works of Power and Beauty, June 7 -
September 29, 1996
LITERATURE
Tom Phillips (ed.), Africa: The Art of a Continent, New York, 1995, p. 531, cat. 6.57

CATALOGUE NOTE
In his discussion of the offered lot on the occasion of the exhibition Africa: The Art of a Continent, René Bravmann (in
Phillips 1995: 531, text to cat. 6.57) notes: "Among the Tuaregs of Niger elegantly sculpted cushion supports are
important items in any well-appointed household. They were carved by the members of a guild known as Enaden,
literally meaning 'the other', blacksmiths who have been instrumental in the creation of precisely those things that
have forever distinguished the upper classes of this society (the imochar or warriors and the insilimen or religious
teachers) from the many vassal populations of the Tuareg world. [... The] products of the Enaden are among the most
potent of hegemonic symbols - for in sitting and reclining upon the pillows and ehel, Tuareg nobles literally sit and lean
upon these artists, dramatically re-enacting the historical relationship between themselves and the members of this
guild. [...] Ehel such as this example form part of the basic furnishing found in any upper-class Tuareg's tent, itself a
hemisphere shaped of exquisitely woven and embroidered mats (asaber or shitek), dominated by geometric bands of
subtle colour gradations and highlighted with carefully embroidered designs of dyed twine and leather. The Tuareg
living-space appears almost to flaunt its beauty in the face of the desolate Sahel, to represent a private domain
imbued with an aura of grace and refinement that defies its natural surroundings. Within these sparkling domes, ehel
are used to pin the mat-woven walls against the exterior tent-poles."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 81
THREE AFRICAN AND OCEANIC SCULPTURES FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF
HENRI MATISSE
BAMANA SEATED FEMALE FIGURE, MALI, ATTRIBUTED TO THE "MASTER
OF THE RAPTOR PROFILE"
Height: 24 in (61 cm)

ESTIMATE 150,000-250,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Henri Matisse, Paris, by 1915
By descent through the family

EXHIBITED
Musée de l'Homme, Paris, Arts Primitifs dans les Ateliers d'Artistes, May – September, 1967
LITERATURE
Paul Guillaume and Guillaume Apollinaire, Sculptures Nègres, Paris, 1917, pl. V
Société des Amis du Musée de l'Homme (ed.), Arts Primitifs dan les Ateliers d'Artistes, Paris, 1967, cat. 114
René Wassing, African Art: Its Background and Traditions, New York, 1968, p. 242, cat. 36
Ezo Bassani, "Una bottega di grandi artisti Bambara, l", Critica d'Arte, Anno XLIII, NS, fasc. 157-9, Gennaio-Giugno
1978, p. 220, ill. 17 (description on p. 218, no. 11)
William Rubin (ed.), Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, 1984, vol. 1, p.
229
Elsy Leuzinger, Kunst der Naturvölker (Propylaeen Kunstgeschichte No. 22), Frankfurt/Berlin/Vienna, 1985, pl. 12

CATALOGUE NOTE
Since the publication of Hans Himmelheber's groundbreaking Negerkünstler (Negro Artists) in 1935, the identification
of individual artists and workshops has become an increasingly important focus of African art history. Based on the
methodologies established in ancient Greek, Medieval and early Renaissance art history, the identification of an
artist's body of work is centered on stylistic and contextual evidence. As the artist's actual name is frequently not
known, names of convenience are used instead.
Allen Wardwell was in the forefront of this art historical movement when, in 1966, he examined a group of Bamana
figures which he believed to belong to a hitherto unidentified Bamana sub-style (Wardwell 1968). Ezio Bassani refined
this theory in 1978, when he identified a group of 57 Bamana sculptures which he believed to originate from a single
workshop. This workshop, active at the end of the 19th and early 20th century in the Bani River region, between
Segou and Koutiala (cf. Bassani 1978, part 2: 197-199), was subsequently called the "Masters of Segou."
Based on meticulous stylistic analysis, Bassani went on to identify three individual hands responsible for the creation
of 40 sculptures. According to the favorite subjects and characteristics of their creations, he named these artists "The
Master of the Slender Figures," "The Master of the Raptor Profile," and the "Master of the Antelopes" (Bassani 1978,
part 2: 196).
The Matisse Figure is a magnificent example of the work of the "Master of the Raptor Profile." Only ten sculptures by
this artist are known, five of which represent seated female figures. In addition to the Matisse Figure, the others are:
one in the British Museum, London (inv. no. "1919.472", Bassani 1978: 221, ill. 18); a second in the Naprstkvo
Muzeum, Prague (inv. no. "39.112", Bassani 1978: 221, ill. 19); and a third and a fourth previously in the collection of
Henri Kamer, current whereabouts unknown (Bassani 1978: 222-223, ills. 20-22).

Fig. 1
Henri Matisse in his studio, Nice (possibly at the Hotel Regina), late
spring or early summer, 1934, showing lot 81 at upper right.
Photograph Courtesy of a Private Collection.

Fig. 2
Henri Matisse (1869?954), Jeannette V, bronze, 1910-1913
Fig. 3
Henri Matisse (18691954), 'Three Sisters with an African Sculpture'
(Les Trois surs la sculpture africaine), between May and mid-July
1917, oil on canvas, 77 1/8 x 38 1/4 in. (195.9 x 97.2 cm), The
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, inv. no. BF363. Photograph 2012
The Barnes Foundation.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 82
THREE AFRICAN AND OCEANIC SCULPTURES FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF
HENRI MATISSE
LEGA MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, WITH POSSIBLE
ALTERATIONS BY HENRI MATISSE (1869 - 1954)
Height: 8 1/8 in (20.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Henri Matisse, Paris
By descent through the family

Fig. 1
Henri Matisse? studio, location unknown (possibly South of France),
1948, showing lot 82 on the left. Photograph Courtesy of a Private
Collection.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 83
THREE AFRICAN AND OCEANIC SCULPTURES FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF
HENRI MATISSE
KANAK ANCESTOR FIGURE, NEW CALEDONIA
Height: 61 1/4 in (155.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Henri Matisse, Paris
By descent through the family
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 84
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
DOGON ANTHROPOMORPHIC TOGUNA HOUSEPOST, MALI
Height: 58 1/2 in (148.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Samba Kamissoko, Bamako
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above, mid-1980s

EXHIBITED
World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery, New York, Lasting Foundations: The Art of Architecture in Africa
(organized by the Museum for African Art, New York), September 30, 2005 - January 6, 2006; additional venues:
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, through December 15, 2006
Chicago Cultural Center Yates Gallery, Chicago, through April 15, 2007
California African American Museum, Los Angeles, May 17, 2007 - August 19, 2007
National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., October 6, 2007 - January 13, 2008
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 85
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
AKAN TERRACOTTA COMMEMORATIVE HEAD, GHANA
Height: 5 in (12.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired in Ivory Coast, circa 1980
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 86
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
KOTOKO BRASS EQUESTRIAN FIGURE, CHAD
Height: 1 1/2 in (3.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 3,000-5,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Merton D. Simpson, New York
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 87
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
DOGON BRASS FIGURE, MALI
Height: 1 3/4 in (4.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 3,000-5,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Abdoulaye Diallo, Mopti
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 88
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
DOGON MALE AND FEMALE COUPLE PENDANT, MALI
Height: 2 3/4 in (7 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-20,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 89
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
WINIAMA TRIPLE-CRESTED MASK, BURKINA FASO
Height: 33 3/4 in (85.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Issaka Zango, Ivory Coast
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above in 1970

CATALOGUE NOTE
Roy (1987: 214) notes: "The masks of the Winiama and Léla are the most geometric and nonrepresentational of the
gurunsi styles. Like the Nunuma, series of lines may radiate from target-shaped eyes, and the geometric patterns
painted red, white, and black are similar, although they are applied in different combinations. As a result some
Winiama masks may be easily misattributed to the Nunuma or the Bwa. However, the Winiama carve several mask
types that include either one or two flat, curving vertical horns paired side-by-side or rising from the top of the head.
These horns occur very rarely among the Nunuma and never among the Bwa. The mouths of Winiama masks are
usually open lozenge shapes, with angular corners, broad lips, and barred teeth, in contrast to the characteristic
Nunuma triangular snout. While the type of animal spirit represented by Bwa, Nuna, or Nunuma masks is usually
easy to identify, Winiama masks are often so stylized that they resemble no recognizable animal."
Wheelock (in Roy and Wheelock 2006: 400, cat. 90) adds that these masks exist in single, double, and triple-crested
examples. For related masks see Schaedler (1973: 59, fig. 63); Roy (1987: figs. 196 and 197); Roy and Wheelock
(2006: cats. 86-90).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 90
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
PROTO-BOBO MASK, BURKINA FASO
Height: 20 1/2 in (52.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Fall Cheick, Ivory Coast
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York (inv. no. "VOG 92"), acquired from the above in 1965

CATALOGUE NOTE
The form of a domed helmet with extended vertical face in front is frequently seen in Bobo masks, as are small, close-
together apertures representing the eyes, and thick, naturalistic, ridged antelope horns. According to Roy (1987:
335), forward curving horns are "a reminder that this represents a spirit, not a natural antelope." However the style of
the offered lot is unusual and not known in other Burkina Faso masks. The archaic features, aged surface, and native
repair suggest that the mask is of great age and possibly representative of an archetypal form.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 91
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
SENUFO HEDDLE PULLEY, IVORY COAST
Height: 7 3/8 in (18.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York (inv. no. "253"), acquired in Ivory Coast in the 1980s
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 92
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
JIMINI HEDDLE PULLEY, IVORY COAST
Height: 7 1/8 in (18.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, inv. no. "221", acquired in Abidjan, 1965
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 93
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
ASANTE FEMALE HEDDLE PULLEY, IVORY COAST AND GHANA
Height: 5 7/8 in (14.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 1965

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a closely related female comb previously in the collection of William W. Brill see Sotheby's New York, November
17, 2006, lot 138.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 94
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
YORUBA-IJEBU MASK FOR THE EKINE CULT, DEPICTING THE WATER
SPIRIT IGODO, NIGERIA
Height: 24 in (61 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Marvin Chasin, London
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above, 1970s

CATALOGUE NOTE
One of the most dominant groups in the Yoruba kingdom, the Ijebu took advantage of their position in the mid-coastal
region of southern Nigeria and amassed wealth and power by controlling trade routes between the sea and the
interior. Discussing a closely related mask in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Fagg (1982: 39, text to
figure 41) notes: "[in the Ijebu region] the monolithic tribality of Yoruba style is impaired by intrusions of Ijo style,
supported by (and supporting) the powerful Ekine society of the Ijo, which seems to have been adopted by the
southern Yoruba as a way of coming to terms with the sea - an alien element to the originally landlocked Yoruba, but
a way of life to the Ijo, who live where possible on pile dwellings over the water and who are the fishermen of the
coast. Ekine, meaning in Ijo, "dancing people," exists with its own basically Ijo art style alongside traditionally Yoruba
institutions such as the kingship and the Oshugbo, or Ogboni, society, with their own purely Yoruba arts, and there is
no great interchange of art forms between them. The main dance group of Ekine is the Agbo, or Magbo, society, to
which this mask belongs. It is one of a series of masks which are danced in threes and which include antelope and
bush-cow representations."
Drewal (in Drewal and Pemberton 1989: 144) continues: "Among the Ijebu, children born through the intercession of
water spirits are known as omolokun ('children of the sea') or elekine ('children of the water spirits'), and are praised in
verse: 'Children of the sea with shells on their heads/Rulers today, rulers tomorrow, rulers forever/Fire on their head
that water quenches.' [...] An elaborate program of masquerades celebrates the role of water spirits who give birth to
such children and affect the welfare of Ijebu coastal communities."
The masks used in such masquerades bear symbols relating to the world of humans as well as the world of the "water
people", including animal forms which are akin to water. The offered lot combines a humanoid face with protruding
conical eyes, an abstract bird on the forehead, a long "beak" and a stylized serpent carved in relief. For three closely
related masks from the same workshop as the present mask photographed in situ, see Carroll (1966: 15, fig. 14). For
two more related masks see De la Burde (1973: 30).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 95
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
GURO FEMALE MASK, GU, IVORY COAST
Height: 12 3/4 in (32.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York (inv. no. "56"), acquired in Bouake, Ivory Coast, in 1970

EXHIBITED
Rietberg Museum Zürich, Zurich, Die Kunst der Guro in Westafrika, May 9 - October 13, 1985; additional venue:
The Center for African Art, New York, January 9 - April 6, 1986
Museum for African Art, New York, Outside Museum Walls: African Art in Private Collections, February 5 - April 10,
1994
LITERATURE
Eberhard Fischer and Lorenz Homberger, Die Kunst der Guro, Zurich, 1985, p. 169, cat. 68 (ownership listed under
pseudonym)

CATALOGUE NOTE
In Guro religious practice, masks representing idealized ancestors are employed in the masquerades of family cults
and secret societies. The present mask represents gu, the wife/daughter of zamble. Barbier (1993: 240) notes: "Gu
is a beautiful woman: she sings the praises of [her father/husband] zamble, dances lasciviously and places the stones
in the hearth of young wives, whom she protects from any ill will on the part of the family into which they have
married."
Fasel (in Barbier 1993: 93, text to cat. 153) discusses the coiffure of the gu mask in the Barbier-Mueller Museum (inv.
no. "1007-223"), which is closely comparable to the present mask: "the hair is piled on the crown of the head and
gathered in a chignon held by small amulets of Muslim origin, called sene, which are made by sewing Koranic verses
into quadrangular leather pouches." For photographs of such amulets, and a woman wearing them, see Fischer and
Homberger (1985: 31, figs. 23-24).
Discussing another gu mask in the Barbier-Mueller collection (inv. no. "1007-7"), acquired by Joseph Mueller before
1939, Deluz (in Barbier 1993: 93, cat. no. 154) elaborates: "Gu never leaves the sacred grove alone, rather, she is
always accompanied by her husband/father. Her teeth are filed in a zigzag pattern, like those of many Guro women
born before about 1920. Her coiffure is of a type called kowangi and represents a giant hornbill (Coraciformes
bucerotidae) with a tuft of feathers."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 96
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
BAULE MALE PORTRAIT MASK (MBLO), IVORY COAST, NAME PIECE OF THE
TOTOKRO MASTER
Height: 13 in (33 cm)

ESTIMATE 300,000-500,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Said to have been collected in the village of Totokro, Agba area, Ivory Coast
Baba Keita, Abidjan
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above in 1970

EXHIBITED
The Center for African Art, New York, Likeness and Beyond: Portraits from Africa and the World, February 14 - August
12, 1990; additional venue:
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, September 15 - November 11, 1990
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, permanent exhibition, August 1997 - January 1999
Guggenheim Museum, New York, Africa: The Art of the Continent. 100 Works of Power and Beauty, June 7 -
September 29, 1996

LITERATURE
William Rubin (ed.), "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinities of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, 1984, p.11
Jean M. Borgatti and Richard Brilliant (eds.), Likeness and Beyond: Portraits from Africa and the World, New York,
1990, p. 114, cat. 41
Tom Phillips (ed.), Africa: The Art of the Continent. 100 Works of Power and Beauty, New York, 1996, p. 143, cat. 71
Susan Mullin Vogel, "Known Artists but Anonymous Works: Fieldwork and Art History," African Arts, vol. XXXI, no. 1,
Spring 1999, p. 52, fig. 13

CATALOGUE NOTE
I. Introduction
Since the first publication of several Baule sculptures in Carl Einstein's seminal book Negerplastik in 1915 (see plates
53-57, 60, 89, and 93-95), Baule art has been at the core of Western appreciation of African art. The Baule style is
seen as one of the canonic African art traditions and its art historical significance is rivaled only by a few other cultures
such as the Fang (Gabon), Benin (Nigeria), Dogon (Mali), Kongo (Western DRC) or Luba/Hemba (Eastern DRC).
In her own important publication Baule. African Art, Western Eyes, Susan Vogel (1997: 26 and 28) notes: "While the
relative naturalism and consummate workmanship of Baule objects were praised at the outset, today these objects
are appreciated for their subtle rhythms and a beauty that stops short of sweetness. To the Western eye, an essence
of Baule style is a balanced asymmetry that enlivens while suggesting stability and calm. [...] To an art historian, the
most consistent feature of Baule art, and one expressed across the wide variety of Baule object types, is a kind of
peaceful containment. Faces tend to have downcast eyes and figures often hold their arms against the body, so that
Westerners might feel that the mood of much classical Baule art is introspective."
Like few other works, the Vogel Mask embodies the "classic" beauty of African sculpture from a Western perspective,
and as such embodiment it was featured by William Rubin in his introductory essay to "Primitivism" in Twentieth
Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern (1984).
II. Portrait Masks, mblo
In his discussion of the Vogel Baule Mask on the occasion of the exhibition Africa: The Art of a Continent. 100 Works
of Power and Beauty at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Philip Ravenhill (in Phillips 1995: 142, text to cat. 71)
explains: Baule portrait masks, mblo, "are worn to enact a series of characters who dance to music with a participatory
audience. The performance climaxes with the arrival of [mblo] in human form, especially portrait masks inspired by
actual people. The subject portrayed in, and honored by, a mask may dance with it and address it affectionately as
'namesake' (ndoma).
"As in Baule figurative sculpture that depicts otherworldly mates or bush spirits, the face of the mask is critical to Baule
ideas of personhood and verisimilitude. It is in looking at the mask's gaze that one perceives it as a person with a
living presence. For the Baule, the eyes are the critical metaphor for sentinent awareness and personhood, as in the
two sayings 'his eyes are open' (i nyi wo su; i.e., he is alive) and 'his eyes have been opened' (i nyi a ti; i.e., he has
reached the age of reason, or is open to new ideas). [...]
"In carving a portrait mask, the Baule artist renders and details the physical facial features - eyes, eyebrows, nose,
mouth, ears - as a complex composition of continuous or broken planes, curves, and surfaces that yields a wholly
three-dimensional form. In the [Vogel Mask], the rendition of coiffure, beard, and facial scarification complement
physical beauty by cultural notions of propriety, goodness, and relative age. In its details and specificity, the form is
recognizable as an individual person. The depiction of a beard indicates that the person portrayed is an elder, one
who has created a family, lived fully, and gained the wisdom and respect that comes with age. This mask evokes
individual character and personal accomplishment, simultaneously symbolizing for younger people the societal goal of
adult fulfillment."
III. The Totokro Master
In the study of the history of African art, the notion of the individual artist was not introduced until 1935 when Hans
Himmelheber identified nineteen artists from Ivory Coast in his groundbreaking Negerkünstler (Negro Artists). Two
years later, the Belgian art historian Frans Olbrechts identified a body of work created by "The Master of the Long
Face of Buli," referring to a now famous Luba carver active in the 19th century. Subsequently, the identification of
authorship and workshops has become an increasingly important focus of African art history. Based on the
methodologies established in ancient Greek, Medieval and early Renaissance art history, the identification of an
artist's body of work is centered on stylistic and contextual evidence. As the artist's actual name is frequently not
known, names of convenience are used instead.
In 1999 Susan Vogel identified the offered lot and ten other Baule sculptures as works of the same artist (Vogel 1999:
52-55). Based on field research and the information that the offered lot had been originally collected in the village
Totokro in the Agba area, she named this artist the "Totokro Master". The other works by this artist are: a female
mask, published in 1911 on the occasion of the Budapest exhibition Keleti Kiállitás a Müvészházban (Rippl-Rónai and
Kernstock 1911: cat. 169), current whereabouts unknown; a male mask formerly in the collection of Charles Ratton,
Paris (Elisofon and Fagg 1958: 98, fig. 122; Leiris and Delange 1967: 300, fig. 345; et al.); a male mask formerly in
the collection of Franco Monti, Milan (Monti 1964: 1363); a male figure in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
(inv. no. "1931.204", acquired in 1931); a female figure in a private collection (Vogel 1999: 55, fig. 19); as well as a
group of sculptures in the Musée Municipal in Agen, France, which presumably entered the museum in the 1930s.
This group includes a pair of male and female masks, a pair of male and female figures, as well as a monkey figure
(Vogel 1999: 54-55, figs. 17-18).
Vogel (1999: 52) notes: "The objects by the Totokro Master that were first known to me resembled the canonical
bearded portrait mask that was for many years in the Charles Ratton collection, Paris. In the 1970s Jerry Vogel and I
acquired a similar bearded mask on the market in Abidjan [= the offered lot]; a third was in the Franco Monte [sic]
collection, Milan, in the 1970s. A fourth example was a female, perhaps the mate of the Ratton mask; it was published
in Budapest in 1911 and subsequently disappeared. In addition to their obvious similarity, the first two revealed a
singular particularity that made it likely they were by the same hand. The artist had carved a depression behind each
eye and then cut through to form the slits for visibility (an unusual technique). On both of these masks, he had made
the same mistake of miscalculating the height of the eyeholes, piercing through too high and making a small hole in
the big eyelid before correctly locating the slits where the upper and lower lids join."

Fig. 1
Baule male portrait mask by the Totokro Master, as published in
Elsy Leuzinger, Die Kunst von Schwarz-Afrika, Recklinghausen,
1972, p. 107, cat. G 3

Fig. 2
Baule female portrait mask by the Totokro Master, as published in
Rippl-R?ai and Kernstock, Keleti Ki?lit? a M??zh?ban, Budapest,
1911, cat. 169, present location unknown.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 97
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
YORUBA MALE AND FEMALE CARYATID STOOL, BENIN
Height: 12 in (30.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-20,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Mama Adamou, Lome
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above, mid-1970s
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 98
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
KOUAME KAKAHA (BORN TANOH SAKASSOU, IVORY COAST, CA. 1960),
CLAY VESSEL, CA. 1995
Height: 21 3/4 in (55.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired directly from the artist

EXHIBITED
Museum for African Art, New York, Material Differences: Art and Identity in Africa, April 10 - August 15, 2003;
additional venues:
National Museum of Canada, Ottawa, September 17, 2004 - January 2, 2005
Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, March 5 - May 22, 2004
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, April 2 - June 19, 2005
LITERATURE
Frank Herreman (ed.), Material differences: Art and Identity in Africa, New York, 2003, p. 89, cat. no. 82
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 99
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
BOZO CLAY VESSEL, MALI
Height: 23 3/4 in (60.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Abdoulaye Diallo, Mopti
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 100
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
NUPE DOOR, CARVED BY SAKIWA THE YOUNGER, LAPAI, NIGERIA
71 1/2 by 39 1/2 in (182 by 100 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Issaka Zango, New York
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above circa 1980

CATALOGUE NOTE
According to Frobenius (quoted in Stevens 1966: 29): "Representational art almost died out among the Nupe after
they were converted to Islam by Mallam Dendo's military expedition about 1830." Stevens (ibid) continues:
"Representational motifs are most commonly used in the carving of door panels, most notably in Lapai (Abuja
Emirate) where the carvers of Sakiwa's compound have been instrumental in keeping alive this form of carving, and in
Agaie (Bida Emirate) whose carvers operate largely in the Sakiwa tradition."
Among the rich variety of symbolic motifs represented is an assortment of animals as well as representations of man-
made objects, some of which were in the repertoire of the same Nupe carvers that produced such doors: a bow and
arrow, a flintlock pistol, knives, and a Koranic tablet. For two closely related doors photographed in situ at Lapai, as
well as a third which is almost identical to the present door, all carved by Sakiwa the Younger of Lapai see Stevens (
ibid:32 and 34). For additional panels carved by Sakiwa the Younger, see Willett (1971: 240, fig. 235) and Robbins
and Nooter (1989: 534, fig. 1426).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 101
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SUSAN AND JERRY VOGEL, NEW YORK
EAST AFRICAN WATERPIPE, POSSIBLY TANZANIA
Common Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) with Domestic Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus)
hide.
Height: 17 1/4 in (43.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Amyas Neagele, New York
Susan and Jerry Vogel, New York, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 102
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JAN SCHNEIDER, MUNICH
KIRDI-FALI FERTILITY FIGURE, CAMEROON OR NIGERIA
Height: 9 1/4 in (23.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 4,000-6,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Udo Horstmann, Zug
Jan Schneider, Munich, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 103
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, PARIS
MAKONDE BODY MASK, TANZANIA
Height: 17 1/4 in (43.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Reportedly from an British Colonial Collection
Bryan Reeves, London
Private Collection, Paris

CATALOGUE NOTE
According to Zachary Kingdon (in Phillips 1995: 175, text to cat. 2.66), among the Makonde both "boys and girls must
undergo a period of seclusion, generally six months, during which they learn songs and dances and are taught various
practical activities. [...] Everyone is taught the rules of adult behaviour, about sex and about the rights and obligations
of married life." Female body masks were an important part of the initiation rituals. They represent a young pregnant
woman and were usually carved with a swollen abdomen and full breasts, decorated with scarification patterns.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 104
PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
BAULE FEMALE STATUE, IVORY COAST
Height: 16 3/4 in (42.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 250,000-350,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Robert Duperrier, Paris, 1960s
John J. Klejman, New York
John Friede, New York, acquired from the above
Stuart Hollander, Saint Louis, acquired from the above
Merton D. Simpson, New York, acquired from the above
American Private Collection, acquired from the above on March 12, 2002

LITERATURE
Pierre Meauzé, L'art nègre: sculpture, Paris, 1967, color plate 75
Pierre Meauzé, African Art. Sculpture, Cleveland and New York , 1968, color plate 75

CATALOGUE NOTE
This magnificent standing female figure is the work of an unknown Baule master, active in the 19th and early 20th
century in central Ivory Coast. Sculptures by this artist are distinguished by the overall refinement of the carving, the
fairly naturalistic body proportions, great attention to details such as a double-lined fold of the upper eyelid, a lustrous
reddish-brown patina, and the attachment of plant fibers for hair. See a male figure, seated on a leopard, in The Menil
Collection, Houston (Van Dyke 2008: 111, cat. 43); a second male figure, seated on a stool, in the American Museum
of Natural History, New York (Vogel 1988: 163); a third male figure, seated on a leopard, and a male mask, both
previously in the collection of Pierre Vérité (Enchères Rive Gauche, Paris, June 17&18, 2006, lots 134 and 164).
Later works from this workshop still feature the attachment of fibers but are less refined, lack the aforementioned
details and show a different, medium to dark brown patina. For an example of the latter see Vogel (1997: 189) and
Christie's Paris, June 15, 2010, lot 30.
The upstanding composed posture, elegantly curved calves and thighs, beautiful coiffure, geometric scarification
patterns and serene facial expression of the offered lot incarnate a physical and moral ideal within Baule society. In
her discussion of a iconographically related male and female couple of Baule figures in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, Vogel (1997: 236) explains this ideal: the figures' beautiful "coiffures, and their refined scarifications
demonstrate their desire to please; their clean, healthy skin, and rounded muscles show they can work successfully,
producing food and crafting the things needed by society. At ease in the world, their flexed legs show compressed
energy, and the muscular tension of alertness."
LaGamma (2000: 23) adds: from "a Baule perspective, human experience evolves out of and remains inextricably tied
to the ancestral world (blolo) - referred to as 'the village of truth' - which controls and determines the fate of the living.
Blolo affects the quality of harvests or the availability of game as well as the physical well-being and fertility of
members of the community. The underlying causes and solutions to collective and individual difficulties that arise are
relayed by diviners. This information [was believed to be revealed to the diviners] by the omniscient gods and
ancestors within blolo through various methods, such as dreams, dances performed while in trance, and several
divinatory instruments [...]. Diviners commission[ed] figurative works as a means of attracting [the attention of bush
sprits, called asye usu] and bringing them out of the bush and into the village. The sculpture is described as asye
usu's 'stool,' because the spirit uses it as a resting point. Such works represent idealized male or female figures in
their prime, which the asye usu consider desirable forms to inhabit." Artists commissioned with the creation of
sculptures used in divination had to follow closely the instructions of the diviners who might have been told certain
details about the figure's required physical appearance, posture,
scarification marks, jewelry and hairstyle by the asye usu bush spirit itself, often during a dream. According to
LaGamma (loc. cit.), the "level of artistry directly affect[ed] their owner's ability to prophesize by seducing nature spirits
and inducing them to divulge insights into the human condition." Vogel (1997: 221) continues: "The largest, oldest and
most elaborate Baule figure sculptures are made as the loci for gods and spirits that possess their human partners
and send messages through them in trance state."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 105
BAULE MALE FIGURE, IVORY COAST
the necklace of glass beads with gold pendants, the belt strung with Lebbek Tree (Albizia
lebbeck) and Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) seeds.
Height: 19 3/4 in (50.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Gaston de Havenon, New York
Lillian and Sidney Lichter, New York, acquired from the above on March 22, 1973

EXHIBITED
Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY, African Art: Masterpieces from Private Collections, December 5, 1993 -
February 27, 1994
LITERATURE
Michael Kan, African Art: Masterpieces from Private Collections, Katonah, 1993, p. 19 (not illustrated)

CATALOGUE NOTE
This superb figure belongs to an ensemble of Baule sculptures (figures and masks) that can be attributed to a group
of artists active in the central Baule area from the middle to the late nineteenth century. While Vogel (1999: 51) refers
to them as the "Nzipri Circle" of artists, de Grunne (2001: 67) suggests the name "Masters of Sakassou."

Figures in this style are "characterized by a long, supple line, the body having a soft, rounded belly, the face concave
and heart-shaped with large round eyes [...]. The idiosyncratic treatment of the lower leg is an easily recognized trait:
the ankle is usually behind the center of gravity, well behind the knee, and the ankles are small, pulled close together,
giving the figure tension and a sort of lift off the high, tight, deeply ribbed base" (Vogel 1999: 51).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 106
PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
MANO MASK, LIBERIA
Height: 8 1/2 in (21.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
John J. Klejman, New York
William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above on October 17, 1967
By descent from the above to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 107
PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
BAULE MASK, IVORY COAST
Height: 8 1/2 in (21.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Reportedly André Lefèvre, Paris
Jay C. Leff, Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Aaron Furman, New York
William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above on April 15, 1967
By descent from the above to the present owner

EXHIBITED
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Exotic Art from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff, October
15, 1959 - January 3, 1960

LITERATURE
Walter Ashlin Fairservis, Exotic Art from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff, Pittsburgh, 1959,
p. 44, cat. 255 (not illustrated)
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 108
SAPI STONE FIGURE (NOMOLI), SIERRA LEONE
nomoli.
Height: 11 3/4 in (29.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Georges Rodrigues, New York
Hope and Todd Makler, Philadelphia, acquired from the above in the early 1970s
Sotheby's New York, November 18, 1997, lot 93
Rudolph Leopold, Vienna

CATALOGUE NOTE
Stone carving such as the offered lot, called nomoli, have been found in the soil of southeastern Sierra Leone as well
as in adjacent portions of Liberia. They are believed to be of great age. Likely they were made by populations
ancestral to the Sherbro and date from a period well before the arrival of Europeans in 1463.
Nomoli figures of the size of the Leopold figure are rare. One, 25 cm high, entered the collection of Jacop Epstein
before 1960 (Fagg 1960: cat. 137, and Sotheby's New York, November 17, 2006, lot 256). A second, only head and
arms 18.4 cm high, is in the collection of the British Museum (Allison 1968: cat. 68).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 109
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
BIDJOGO SHRINE FIGURE, GUINEA-BISSAU
Height: 13 5/8 in (34.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ in the 1960s by the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 110
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
BIDJOGO SHRINE FIGURE, GUINEA-BISSAU
Height: 15 1/8 in (38.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ in the 1960s by the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 111
BAULE HEDDLE PULLEY, IVORY COAST
Height: 8 1/4 in (21 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ by Hans Himmelheber in the early 1930s
Lore and Dr. Georg Kegel, Hamburg, acquired from the above in the late 1930s
Acquired by the present owner from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 112
GURO HEDDLE PULLEY, IVORY COAST
Height: 6 7/8 in (17.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ by Hans Himmelheber in the early 1930s
Lore and Dr. Georg Kegel, Hamburg, acquired from the above in the late 1930s
Acquired by the present owner from the above

LITERATURE
Hans Himmelheber, Negerkünstler: Ethnographische Studien über den Schnitzkünstler bei den Stämmen der Atutu
und Guro im Innern der Elfenbeinküste, Stuttgart, 1935, pl. 10.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 113
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
DAN RITUAL CONTAINER IN THE SHAPE OF A RAM, IVORY COAST
6 1/4 in by 5 1/2 in by 15 1/2 in (15.9, 14, 39.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ by Dr. George Harley (1894-1966) between 1926 - 1960
Paul Rabut, Westport, acquired from the above ca. 1963-1965
Peggy Rabut, Westport, by descent from the above
Merton D. Simpson, New York, acquired from the above
Private American Collection, acquired from the above

LITERATURE
Warren M. Robbins and Nancy I. Nooter, African Art in American Collections. Survey 1989, Washington, 1989, p. 164,
fig. 315

CATALOGUE NOTE
Amongst the rarest objects produced by Dan artists are containers in the shape of a ram. Apart from the offered lot,
only one other example is recorded in the Ethnografische Verzamelingen of Ghent University in Belgium (Yale Van
Rijn archive inv. no. "0123784").
Little is known about the function of these containers. Both containers have a worn surface on top. For the Ghent
example the hypothesis has been suggested that it might have served as stool or neckrest. In general, both works
seem too large for neckrests. While their sizes and general shape would not be uncommon for stools (cf. one
previously in the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation, Sotheby's New York, May 15, 2009, lot 42), they seem too
refined for an object of daily use. Instead, it is conceivable to locate their function in a ritual context. This hypothesis is
further supported by traces of palm oil on the offered lot's surface.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 114
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
AKAN MALE AND FEMALE COUPLE, IVORY COAST AND GHANA
Height of male: 8 7/8 in (22.5 cm)
Height of female: 8 5/8 in (21.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Reportedly collected before World War I
Mathias Komor, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above on July 23, 1969
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 115
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
AKAN, POSSIBLY EBRIE, STAFF TOP, IVORY COAST OR GHANA
Height: 12 1/2 in (31.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Mathias Komor, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner, December 5, 1970
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 116
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
BAULE GONG BEATER, IVORY COAST
Height: 10 1/2 in (26.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Mathias Komor, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above on December 18, 1967
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 117
PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
IBO MAIDEN SPIRIT MASK, NIGERIA
Mounted on an Inagaki base.
Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Charles Ratton, Paris
William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above on March 21, 1967
By descent to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 118
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTOR
LOBI HEAD, BURKINA FASO
Height: 14 1/4 in (36.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, New York, acquired before 1971
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 119
WE (NGERE) MASK, GERE SUBGROUP, IVORY COAST
Height: 11 1/2 in (29.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Henri Kamer, Paris, by 1971
Pace Primitive, New York
Alain Bovis, Paris

EXHIBITED
Galerie Kamer, New York, Magic African Art, November 1971

LITERATURE
Henri Kamer, Magic African Art, New York, 1971
William Rubin, "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, 1984, p. 591
Marie-Noël Verger-Fèvre, "Masks of the We in Western Côte d'Ivoire", Tribal: The Magazine of Tribal Art, no. 37,
Spring 2005, p. 111

CATALOGUE NOTE
The present mask, illustrated alongside the essay on Dada and Surrealism on the occasion of William Rubin's 1984
monograph "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinities of the Tribal and the Modern, is a conceptual masterpiece of
Guere art. In her recent study on We and Guere masks, Marie-Noël Verger-Fèvre (2005: 111) identifies it as either
war (te'e gla) or wisdom (gla kla'a) mask. According to this study (loc. cit.: 107-108), the war mask "belongs to the
category of great masks by virtue of its age and of its importance in the lineage to which it belongs. This mask once
played a prominent role in We lineages because it intervened in matters of tribal warfare, which was widespread
before the arrival of European colonials. [...] The great mask of wisdom, gla kla'a, appears in public on rare and
solemn occasions. It is present at commemorative ceremonies and the funerary rites of important individuals and high
Gla dignitaries. It also appears once every decade or so, apparently for the singular purpose of exhibiting it. Whenever
it appears, the full procession of masks takes place before it."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 120
PROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
NUNUMA CROCODILE MASK, BURKINA FASO
Height: 75 in (190.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Alan Brandt, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1968
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 121
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ERIC EDWARDS, NEW YORK
CAMEROON GRASSLANDS BELLOWS, CAMEROON
Height: 37 in (94 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Joel Cooner, Dallas
Eric Edwards, New York, acquired from the above on May 25, 2001
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 122
MUMUYE ANCESTOR FIGURE, NIGERIA
Height: 35 3/4 in (90.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Gaston de Havenon, New York
Lillian and Sidney Lichter, New York, acquired from the above on March 22, 1973

EXHIBITED
C.W. Post Art Gallery, Greenvale, African Sculpture: The Shape of Surprise, February 17 - March 30, 1980
Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, African Art: Masterpieces from Private Collections, December 5, 1993 - February
27, 1994

LITERATURE
Museum of African Art (ed.), De Havenon Collection, Washington, 1971, fig. 160
Susan M. Vogel, African Sculpture: The Shape of Surprise, New York, 1980, p. 27, cat. 98
Michael Kan, African Art: Masterpieces from Private Collections, Katonah, 1993, p. 19 (not illustrated)

CATALOGUE NOTE
Mumuye figures represent the human form with strikingly abstract elongated shapes, ingeniously playing upon positive
and negative space with openwork subtraction from a columnar whole. Kerchache (1988: 546) notes: "[Mumuye]
statuary does not depict ancestors but rather incarnates tutelary spirits. Yet, statues reinforce the status and prestige
of their owner who, as he holds them in his hands, has a dialogue with them and thus ensures his personal
protection."
For a closely related figure see Leuzinger (1985: pl. 72b).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 123
YORUBA DOOR, NIGERIA
Height: 53 in (135 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Eric Robertson, New York
Private Collection, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Among the Yoruba, doors embellished with ornamental and figural reliefs are commissioned by chiefs, elders, or
priests of high status for the entrance of special rooms, reserved for important activities and accessible only
to specific individuals. The abstracted image of interlinked male and female figures on the present door may relate to
the teachings of the Ogboni society that promote equality and interdependence of man and woman. For a related
door see Drewal (1980: 26 fig. 7).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 124
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF PHIL AND BEA GERSH
LOWER BENUE RIVER MATERNITY GROUP, POSSIBLY GONEMAI, NIGERIA
Height: 19 1/2 in (49.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 2,000-3,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Alan Brandt, New York
Beatrice and Philip Gersh, Beverly Hills, acquired from the above on May 30, 1973
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 125
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
YORUBA DANCE WAND FOR THE SHANGO SOCIETY, NIGERIA
Height: 20 1/2 in (52.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Mathias Komor, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above on October 31, 1969
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 126
BENIN RATTLE STAFF, NIGERIA
ukhurhe
Height: 46 in (116.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Eric Robertson, New York
Private Collection, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
In the Benin Ekpo men's society, ukhurhe dance staffs are used in ceremonial dances honoring ancestors,
representations of which incorporated into the column of the staff interspersed with fine relief carving. The present
example features a chamber containing a percussive clapper. When not being used in dance, these
staffs adorn family altars. For a photograph of a related staff being used in situ, see African Arts (1984: cover
illustration). Another staff of related form, in bronze, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (inv. no.
"1974.5").
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 127
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF NANCY AND RICHARD BLOCH, RANCHO SANTA
FE
YORUBA MALE AND FEMALE SHRINE FIGURES, NIGERIA
Height of female: 29 1/2 in (74.9 cm).
Height of male: 28 in (69.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 100,000-150,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Merton D. Simpson, New York
Nancy and Richard Bloch, Rancho Santa Fe, acquired from the above on August 12, 1977

EXHIBITED
Los Angeles County Museum of Art - LACMA, Los Angeles, Homage to Nigeria, October 1981 - April 1, 1982
Los Angeles County Museum of Art - LACMA, Los Angeles, Male and Female: The Couple in African Sculpture,
March 23 - October 2, 1983
National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of
Africa, October 25, 1989 - September 3, 1990

LITERATURE
Herbert M. Cole, Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa, Washington, 1989, p. 73, fig. 78
Warren M. Robbins and Nancy I. Nooter, African Art in American Collections. Survey 1989, Washington, 1989, p. 237,
fig. 607 (male figure)
National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution (ed.), Calendar of Exhibitions and Programs, Washington,
Winter 1990
George Chemeche, The Horse Rider in African Art, Woodbridge, 2011, p. 132 (male figure)

CATALOGUE NOTE
The pair of monumental shrine figures from the collection of Nancy and Richard Bloch are tour-de-force examples of
Yoruba carving technique. They are distinguished by the highly expressive features as well as their beautiful honey
golden patina. For a related pair of a horserider and mother-and-child figure, also from an Erinle shrine in the Yoruba
town of Ilobu, see Christie's Paris, December 13, 2011, lot 278.

Pair of Yoruba Shrine Sculptures


These splendid Yoruba shrine sculptures were probably carved in Ilobu by an artist from the circle of Toibo of Erin,
son of Maku. They were most likely placed on a shrine for orisha Erinle in Ilobu or a neighboring town on the northern
forest edge of the area known as Oyo in Western Nigeria.
In the early 1950s Ulli Beier, a preceptor at the University of Ibadan, traveled widely in southwestern Yorubaland. As
he became fluent in the Yoruba language, he was fascinated with the myths, rituals, and festivals through which the
Yoruba gave expression to a complex and insightful cosmology. As a professor of literary and visual art he was
enchanted by the oral literature, oriki, sung in the celebration of persons, places, and gods, and the rich imagination
and skill with which an abundance of shrine sculpture was created. In 1957 Beier published two essays in special
editions of Nigeria Magazine. The first, entitled, "The Story of Sacred Wood Carvings From One Small Yoruba Town,"
and the second, "A Year of Sacred Festivals in One Yoruba Town." The town was Ilobu in the Ilesha area, located a
few miles north of Oshogbo, near Erin and Ede, and south of the Igbomina crowned town of Ila-Orangun. The village
of Erin was well known for the sculptures of the master carver, Maku, his son, Toibo, and others who were affiliated
with them. The palace of the Timi of Ede with its famous shrine to orisha Ogun, deity of iron and war, had thirty or
forty shrine sculptures carved by carvers from Oshogbo, Ibadan, Ilobu, Erin, Ila-Orangun, and many other towns and
villages. Particular carvings were often acquired for a shrine on the instruction of Ifa divination, at times requiring the
devotee to journey to a neighboring town seeking a carver who was well known for his skill and knowledge in creating
appropriate sculptures for a particular orisa or the headdress for an ancestral masquerade. Other sculptures might be
inherited from a deceased family member, in particular a parent of deceased twins or one who was a devotee of a
particular orisha.
The pair of shrine sculptures from the collection of Nancy and Richard Bloch is strikingly similar to a pair of a female
figure holding a bowl and a male horserider photographed by Beier in Ilobu on the Akinbi shrine in honor of orisha
Erinle (Beier 1957a: plate 15). The iconography and carving details of the female figure are so close that it seems
plausible to assume these are works by the same hand. Beier does not identify the carver of these sculptures, nor
does he suggest a date of manufacture. Another photograph Beier took in Erin shows the Abgandada shrine and in it
a pair of shrine figures by Toibo, son of Maku (d. 1937). While these sculptures are very similar to the Bloch figures,
too, there are also differences. It could be possible that the Bloch figures are works by Toibo himself but they are
definitively works by an artist who worked closely with him.
Erinle is said to have been a famous hunter of elephants who had led the Lorosin, the first king of the Ilobu people, to
the site of the present town–a site rich with fine soil near the flowing waters of a river now called Erinle River. Orisha
Erinle lived with the people of Ilobu and is remembered for his mighty deeds in defending the town. At length Erinle
left the king and people of Ilobu and sank into the river making his home at a place called Igboorisa, "the grove of the
orisha."
Erinle's principal shrine is in the courtyard of the palace, and, according to Beier, there is scarcely a compound in
Ilobu without a shrine for Erinle. At the time of the annual festival women will chant oriki, "praise songs" or "attributive
names" in honor of the orisha.
He is firm and strong like an ancient rock.
He is clear like the eye of God that does not grow grass.
Like the earth he will never change.
He puts out the lamp and lets his eye sparkle like fire.
He will turn the barren woman into one who carries a child.
He is the father of our king; he is the one who looks after my child.
From the depth of the river he is calling us to war.
In the bush and in the thick forest he finds his food.
He treads on dangerous paths but his foot does not hesitate.
He can destroy like worms in the stomach.
The confused head he will cure.
He mixes the heads of vultures with the heads of other birds.
The antelope cannot move.
The bush cow is spell bound.
He will not be friendly with the leopard, except for his spotted ear.
Shrine sculptures for the orisha are visual metaphors. They are not objects of devotion or thought of as sacred or
spiritually powerful. Rather, they are images of devotees, of those who possess within their lives the power, ashe, or
"spiritual authority," ori inu, of the orisha. The female figure carries a child on her back and holds an offering calabash
below her full breasts, a gift for the power who gave her the gift of a child. The child is bound to her with her wrapper,
its arms suspended with ease and confidence at the sides. The equestrian figure holds the reins of his steed and
grasps a spear with his right hand. A knife is strapped to his leg. "He is firm and strong like an ancient rock." His
servant stands at the front of the saddle searching the path to be certain that the way is clear and another stands at
his back, holding on to the arms of the rider. The woman's hair and the rider's "dog-eared hat," abatiaja, are painted
with indigo dye. Both feature a pigtail, decorated with six descending triangles echoing the inverted Islamic triangular
amulet, tiara, suspended from their necks.
The carvings have been smeared with chalk, efun, indicating that Erinle is among the orishafunfun, the deities of
whiteness, such as Obatala, creator of human beings, Oshun, goddess of birth and woman's beauty, and orisha Oko,
Lord of the farm. Erinle may be involved in blood shed in the hunt and in battle, but he is essentially viewed as a deity
of life sustaining actions: killing in the quest for food and the defense of community. As with humans, the Yoruba
orisha are deeply ambiguous figures, endowed with remarkable creativity capacity, but capable of violent behavior.
John Pemberton III
Crosby Professor of Religion, Emeritus
Amherst College, March 2012
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 128
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
YORUBA-OWO IVORY ORNAMENT, NIGERIA
omama, made of African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) ivory, with Coconut (Cocos
nucifera) shell inlay.
Height: 6 1/4 in (15.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 100,000-150,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, United Kingdom
Eric D. Robertson, New York, acquired from the above
Private American Collection, acquired from the above in the 1990s

EXHIBITED
UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, California, Elephant: The Animal and its Ivory in African
Culture, September 30, 1992 - May 16, 1993
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Africa: The Art of a Continent, 100 Works of Power and Beauty, June 7
- September 29, 1996

LITERATURE
George Nelson Preston, African Art Masterpieces, New York, 1991, p. 63
Doran H. Ross, Elephant: The Animal and its Ivory in African Culture, Los Angeles, 1992, p. 199, cat. 9-16
Tom Phillips (ed.), Africa, The Art of a Continent: 100 Works of Power and Beauty, New York, 1996, pp. 138-139,
cat. 68

CATALOGUE NOTE
In his discussion of the offered lot on the occasion of the exhibition Africa, The Art of a Continent at the Guggenheim
Museum in New York, Ekpo Eyo (in Phillips 1995: 138) noted: "Among the Owo-Yoruba, a red costume (orufaran) is
worn by the highest ranking chiefs as a priviledge granted by the king (olowo). [...] It consists of a top shirt made of
imported red flannel that is scalloped to resemble the scales of an anteater or pangolin. Like the scales of a pangolin,
the costume protects its wearer from harm by rendering him invulnerable. Sewn onto the scalloped shirt are a series
of carved ivory ornaments (omama) depicting powerful animals such as the ram, crocodile, leopard, or horse. [...] The
ram omama shown here, one of a pair (the other is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York [inv. no.
"1991.17.123"]), probably came from the orufaran of the chief (ojomo) of Ijebu quarter, originally located on the
outskirts of Owo town proper. [...] If he inherited the costume from the first ojomo, Oladipe, then it can be dated to the
last quarter of the eighteenth century. The pair of omama were very likely made by the same carver."

Drewal (in Ross 1992, p. 199) continues: "Together with the elephant, the ram is the most important totem among the
Yoruba. It is a sign of the preeminent power and aggressiveness of one who tolerates no rival."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 129
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF CECILLE AND MICHAEL PULITZER, SANTA
BARBARA
FANG ARMLET MASK, GABON
Height of wood: 6 1/2 in (16.5 cm)
Height with fiber attachments: 10 1/2 in (26.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Lucien van de Velde, Brussels
Cecille and Michael Pulitzer, Santa Barbara, acquired from the above

EXHIBITED
Credit Communal de Belgique, Brussels, Masques du Monde – Het Masker in de Wereld, June 28 – July 31, 1974
LITERATURE
A. Dorisingfang-Smets and A.G. Claerhout (eds.), Masques du Monde – Het Masker in de Wereld, Brussels, 1974, p.
70
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 130
FANG MASK, GABON
Height of wood: 9 1/2 in (24.1 cm)
Height with fiber attachments: 18 in (45.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 100,000-150,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Marcia and Irwin Hersey, New York, by 1980
Blossom and Dwight Strong, San Francisco, acquired from the above
Acquired by the present owner from the above

EXHIBITED
C.W.Post Art Gallery, Greenvale, New York, African Sculpture: The Shape of Surprise, February 17 - March 30, 1980
The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, East of the Atlantic, West of the Congo: Art from Equatorial
Africa. The Dwight and Blossom Strong Collection, July 15 - November 26, 1995
LITERATURE
Susan Vogel, African Sculpture: The Shape of Surprise, Greenvale, 1980, p. 36, cat. 118
Leon Siroto, East of the Atlantic, West of the Congo: Art from Equatorial Africa. The Dwight and Blossom Strong
Collection, San Francisco, 1995, p. 26, cat. 3

CATALOGUE NOTE
Fang sculpture has long been one of the most admired and sought after genres of African art. In the early 20th
century it famously provided inspiration to the avant-garde artists in the circle of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque
with its highly-stylized, cubist forms. A four-faced ngongtan helmet mask from the same workshop as the present
mask is in the Musée Dapper, Paris (Neyt 2010: 45, fig. 11). Another previously in The Gustave and Franyo Schindler
Collection is now in the Dallas Museum of Art (inv. no. "1974.SC.33", Walker 2009: 273, cat. 101).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 131
PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
KOTA RELIQUARY FIGURE, GABON
Height: 27 3/8 in (69.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 1,000,000-1,500,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Ralph Nash, London
Morris J. Pinto, Paris and New York, 1970s
Lance and Roberta Entwistle, London (inv. no. "R7G027"), acquired from the above by 1978
Robert Burawoy, Paris, acquired from the above
Armand Arman, New York, acquired from the above before 1988
Alain de Monbrison, Paris
American Private Collection, acquired from the above

EXHIBITED
Musée d'Arts Africains, Océaniens, Amérindiens, Marseille, Arman & l'art africain, June 23 - October 30, 1996;
additional venues:
Musée National des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, Paris, December 3, 1996 - February 17, 1997
Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Museum für Völkerkunde, Cologne, March - August 1997
Museum for African Art, New York, October 9, 1997 - April 19, 1998

LITERATURE
African Arts, January 1978, Volume XI, Number 2, back cover
Werner Gillon, Collecting African Art, London/New York, 1979/1980, pl. VII
Alain and Françoise Chaffin, L'Art Kota: les figures de reliquaire, Meudon, 1979, p. 204, fig. 104
Dorie Greenspan, "Arman's Sophisticated Taste: from Palette to Palate", Elle, January 1988, p. 136
Musée d'Arts Africains, Océaniens, Amérindiens, Marseille (ed.), Arman & l'art africain, Marseille, 1996, pp. 10 and
111, cat. 60
Frank Herreman (ed.), African Faces, African Figures: The Arman Collection, New York, 1997, pp. 10 and 132, cat.
104

CATALOGUE NOTE
A Kota-Ndasa mbulu-ngulu Reliquary Figure, Southern Kota Region, Gabon
Formerly in the collections of Armand Arman, New York, and Morris J. Pinto, New York
In his monumental 1953 work Contribution à l'ethnographie des Kuta I, pastor-ethnographer Efraim Andersson, the
great expert on the "Kuta", or "Kota" peoples of equatorial Africa, illustrated a reliquary figure with a convex face, a
broad transverse headcrest, and side-coiffures terminating in volutes (341: fig. 37), closely related to the present
majestic figure, formerly in the collections of Morris J. Pinto and the artist Armand Arman.
He noted that the related double-sided mbuli-viti had been collected in situ in the 1920s by the pastor Karl Laman for
the Svenska Missionförbundets Museum in Stockholm. The same object, with its convex face, is also seen in a
photograph taken by The Reverend Jacobsonn before 1912, showing young Kota men wearing bark cloth aprons,
carrying traditional weapons, and displaying reliquary figures (cf. Arts d'Afrique noire, No. 69, Spring 1989, p. 37;
Archives Svenska Missionsförbundet, Stockholm).
The conception of these two works tends toward a certain graphic naturalism, contrasting with the stylizing impulse of
most other Kota variants. Both feature the same convex volume of the fully-modeled face, entirely overlaid with fine
copper plates; accentuated by oblique iron bands on the cheeks; an ovoid, projecting forehead interrupted by a broad
horizontal band with chased repoussé decoration; hollow eye-sockets around large, almond-shaped eyes, with thick
metal eyelids and pupils made of nails; and the face framed by an ample coiffure, with a transverse crest and lateral
extensions terminating in volutes. Particularly significant to our study is Andersson's indication that the related work
comes from the Mossendjo region of the former French Congo (southwest of present-day Congo-Brazzaville), the
epicenter of the missionary activities of Swedish evangelists before the Second World War. It was also in the
southern part of the Kota region that The Reverend Efraim Andersson conducted the bulk of his ethnographic surveys
from 1935 until the 1950s, amongst the Wumbu, the Ndasa, and the Obamba (see Andersson 1953 and Andersson
1974).
The area within the triangle formed by the towns of Mossendjo, Sibiti, and Zanaga (all in present-day Republic of
Congo) was among others populated by Kota groups, namely the Wumbu and the Ndasa. In this context it is worth
remembering that the designation "Kota" is only a collective name of convenience, as each cultural group of equatorial
Africa referred to by the name "Kota" also bears a more specific name. The Ndasa are culturally and linguistically
distant cousins of the Northern Kota, the Mahongwe, the Shamaye, and the Shaké of the Ivindo basin. Already
centuries ago, their migratory movement had already brought them from Southern Cameroon to present-day Congo,
traversing the whole of eastern Gabon from North to South. Some Ndasa communities, with small populations,
remained behind in the region of the Upper Ogooué river in Gabon.
In all Kota groups, the practice of metalworking, in iron and copper, was particularly important in both a social and a
religious context. The master of fire and iron was called otuli. The blacksmith and his assistants used a wooden
bellows (okumba) with two chambers covered with animal hide and extended with a doubled terracotta nozzle, which
kept the forge glowing within an oven of large stones built upon the ground. Frequently the blacksmith was also a
wood sculptor: it was he who, apart from making the necessary tools of daily life and weapons, created the reliquary
figures for the worship of ancestors. These were fashioned of a panel of wood and carefully decorated with strips of
copper, brass and in the region of the Ndasa also iron.

The offered figure, comprising a single face covered with copper plates and strips, the wood on the reverse left
without metal covering but demarcated by a simple diamond shape in relief, can be attributed to the type called
mbulu-ngulu. Originally it would have been installed atop a reliquary box or basket containing the relics of ancestors
of a lineage, namely skulls and other fragments of bone taken from the bodies of the deceased which were regularly
venerated. This function of the figures most often caused significant erosion of the wood base in the lower section, as
is the case with the offered figure previously in the Arman Collection.
Naturally, some particularly talented artist-blacksmiths earned renown beyond their home villages, sometimes over
vast regions. Some names of these bygone Kota artists have remained in the memories of the Gabonese and
Congolese people to the present. These names include Sémangoy and Koba, of the Wumbu of the Upper Ogooué
region in Gabon; Boulakongo and Tébangoye of the Nzebi and the Obamba; and a sculptor by the name of Léké from
a Ndasa village in the Mossendjo region of present day Congo, the creator of two works collected by Efraim
Andersson, preserved in the Ethnographic Museum of Gothenburg, Sweden (see Paudrat 1986: 69).
Concerning certain details of the decorations of Southern Kota reliquary figures, Andersson (1974: 134, note 2) noted
that the forehead band seen on most mbulu-ngulu and mbulu-viti was a "mark of dignity" for chiefs, notably in the
Ndasa region. Women could also wear them, more discreetly, as a sign of mourning after the death of a dignitary.
Let us consider three other major works of the Ndasa sub-style:
Figure 1
A Kota reliquary figure, mbulu-ngulu, Ndasa
Height: 67.9 cm
Private Collection, Los Angeles
Previously in the collection of René Rasmussen, Paris
Published: Chaffin (1979:207, no. 110) and LaGamma (2007: 260, no. 83)
Figure 2
A Janus Kota reliquary figure, mbulu-viti, Ndasa
Height: 56 cm
Laura and James J. Ross Collection, New York
Previously in the collection of Georges de Miré, Paris
Published: LaGamma (2007: 257, no. 81)
Figure 3
A Kota reliquary figure, mbulu-ngulu, Ndasa
Height: 71 cm.
Private Collection, Geneva
Previously in the collections of Jay C. Leff, Uniontown and Merton D. Simpson, New York
Published: Chaffin (1979: 209 , no. 110)
Already at first sight, the similarities in the decoration of these three works and the offered figure suggest that these
works were created in the same workshop, if not by the hand of the same master sculptor.
On these four figures, the face is decorated with "tears", rendered with iron bands, folded in relief and crimped
obliquely on the cheeks, falling away from the nose. Large eyebrows in relief form a double arch and are highlighted
by twin bands of iron and copper, the two metals paired for chromatic effect.
The use of a combination of sheets of red copper and yellow brass, and strips of iron allows for the striking effect of
contrasting colors. This decorative scheme is found in particular on the upper perimeter of the transverse crests of the
coiffure of these four works, where they form a frieze of triangles, diamonds, and crosses, marked with vertical lines.
This pattern is also the mark of the initiates of mwiri, one of the men's associations of the region. The motif is
engraved in repoussé in the cases of Figures 1 and 3, as well as the offered figure, or in relief on thin attached
plaquettes (small plates) in the case of Figure 2.
Another convergence between Figures 1 and 3, as well as the offered figure, and subtle difference to Figure 2, is the
headband. In the case of the group of three figures it is a narrow strip of copper framed by pieces of brass above and
below, whereas in the case of Figure 2 the copper band is wider and reaches down to the curved iron eyebrows,
without a piece of brass in between.
Another convergence is the shape of the mouth. Slightly open, circular, and with sharp teeth filed to points, the mouth
of the Figures 1, 3, and the offered figure is embellished by a cowrie shell attached with resin (on the offered figure,
however, the cowrie has been detached). We know that cowries were a very old currency used throughout Africa,
and particularly in equatorial Africa. Thus it was a mark of distinction reserved for statues of the great leaders of clans
or politically influential lineages. Filing the teeth to points was a decorative mutilation customary among high-ranking
initiates of the Sothern Kota.
A sculptural detail sometimes mentioned in association with the work of Ndasa groups, rarely noticed but probably
quite significant symbolically, is the shape of the nose. Typically Kota noses are of a tetrahedral volume, with sharp
edges, as seen for example in works of the Obamba, Ndumu, and Shamaye. However, here the nose has a flattened
tip, with nostrils gaping, giving it a "snub" look, perhaps recalling the emaciated, skeletal nose of an ancestor's skull.
This particular detail is found on several other reliquary figures of the Ndasa substyle, which clearly indicates that this
form was intentional and not coincidental: cf., a Kota-Ndasa janus mbulu-viti figure, 64 cm (Ader-Tajan, Paris,
December 18, 1990 lot 56, collected by Batallion commander Foufé between 1911 and 1914); another Kota mbulu-viti
figure, 56.5 cm (Ratton-Hourdé 2003: 59); and a Kota-Ndasa mbulu-ngulu figure, 58 cm, Sibiti region, Congo (ibid.:
56).
Summarizing the above, three figures – Silver Collection, previously Jay C. Leff Collection, and the offered figure –
share a series of strong similarities: the repoussé execution of the decorative scheme on the upper perimeter of the
transverse crests of the coiffure, the headband across the forehead, the shape of the mouth, the original presence of
a cowry shell on the mouth, the detail of the skeletal nose, as well as approximately the same height. These
convergences allow us to suggest that all three figures are the work of a single artist.
In comparing the different variants of Kota funerary sculptures, from their 18th/19th century expansion from north to
south, we see that expressions of the Ivindo basin and also the Ogooue basin are much more stylized and abstract
than those of the Congo region of Mossendjo. Perhaps a certain stylistic influence of the wider cultural environment
can be seen developing over the centuries in this area, where cultural groups of diverse origins such as the Punu, the
Tsangi, and the Ndzebi, lived side by side and created "white masks" which in all three styles are well-known for their
naturalistic tendencies. In the region of the Tsangi, for example, the okuyi mask, with a fully modeled face, bears
bands over the forehead and cheeks, recalling the forehead-band of Ndasa dignitaries. In this context it is noteworthy
that Efraim Andersson had found such a white mask in the Kota region in the 1930s (Andersson 1953: 347, pl. 3).
This discovery, which could be considered simply anecdotal and random, perhaps instead can be attributed to the
existence of common initiation associations across these different communities (in which the mwiri association links all
of the adult men in a village). This would undoubtedly have favored the exchanging and borrowing of symbolic motifs,
and might explain the naturalistic and sometimes "baroque" tendencies of Ndasa reliquary figures. These three
cultural traits place the Congolese regions of the Upper Niari and the Louéssé in a wider perspective, and are another
indication of the relative "permeability" of styles in the history of African sculpture.
The present mbulu-ngulu reliquary figure, previously in the collections of Morris J. Pinto and Armand Arman, is of
great age, dating from the early nineteenth if not the late eighteenth centuries. It is a major work of its genre,
representing a rare variant of the Ndasa sub-style, and constitutes one of the most accomplished jewels of Kota
statuary.

Dr. Louis Perrois


Saint-Gely-du-Fesc, February 2012

Fig. 1
Fig. 3 Kota-Ndasa Reliquary Figure, Gabon. Image ?Private
Collection, Geneva.

Fig. 2
Fig. 1 Kota-Ndasa Reliquary Figure, Gabon. Image ?Private
Collection, Los Angeles

Fig. 3
Fig. 2 Kota-Ndasa Janus Reliquary Figure, Gabon. Laura and
James J. Ross Collection, New York Image ?John Bigelow Taylor

Fig. 4
Lot 131 as seen in an assemblage by the sculptor Arman.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 132
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
MAHONGWE RELIQUARY FIGURE, GABON
Height: 8 1/4 in (21 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Jacques Kerchache, Paris
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Geneva
Sotheby's London, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection of African Art, June 27, 1983, lot 40
Private American Collection, acquired at the above auction
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 133
FANG MASK, GABON
Height: 13 3/4 in (34.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Ernst and Ruth Anspach, New York
Alain de Monbrison, Paris, acquired from the above
Private American Collection, acquired from the above

EXHIBITED
The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, African Tribal Sculpture from the collection of Ernst and Ruth Anspach,
November 15, 1967 - February 4, 1968

LITERATURE
Museum of Primitive Art (ed.), African Tribal Sculpture from the Collection of Ernst and Ruth Anspach, Greenwich,
1967, p. 11
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 134
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
KWELE ANTELOPE MASK, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Height: 24 1/2 in (62.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 150,000-250,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Reportedly collected in French Congo (present day Republic of Congo) by Alexandre Petit-Renaud between 1901 and
1930
Philippe and Laurant Dodier, Avranches
Michael Oliver, New York
Private American Collection, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Kwele antelope are exceedingly rare. Several related masks are recorded in important museum collections: one in the
Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva (inv. no. "1019-49", Schmalenbach 1988: 210, cat. 127); a second in the in the British
Museum, London (Trowell and Nevermann 1968: 70); a third in the Musée Dapper, Paris (collected by Aristide
Courtois before 1938, Falgayrettes-Leveau 1995: 61); a fourth in the Kulturen Museum, Lund (inv. no. "51.467.113");
and a fifth in the Etnografiscka Museum, Gothenburg (Leuzinger 1970: 241, pl. Q 9).
Hahner-Herzog (1998: text to cat. 69) notes: "The rare masks of the Kwele, a little-investigated ethnic group of
northeast Gabon and the adjacent area of the Republic of Congo, are associated with the Bwete association, which
maintains social order. The masks are also used in initiation rites and at the end of periods of mourning.
Representing benevolent forest spirits, they have zoomorphic or anthropomorphic traits, or a combination of the two.
The faces are usually painted in white kaolin earth, a pigment associated by the Kwele with light and clarity, the two
essential factors in the fight against evil."
Discussing the aforementioned Barbier-Mueller mask, she continues: "The rare Kwele masks with vertically projecting
horns exhibit a range of stylistic differences. Some examples, such as the one illustrated here and those in Göteborg
and London depict antelopes."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 135
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
DJENNÉ ANTHROPOMORPHIC TERRACOTTA FIGURE, INLAND NIGER
DELTA REGION, MALI
A Report on Thermoluminescence from the Research Laboratory for Archeology and the
History of Art, Oxford, dated December 7th, 1979, states that sample "281r23" was last fired
between 525 and 715 years ago (1264-1454 AD).
Height: 3 in (7.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Philippe Guimiot, Brussels, by 1979
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in December 1984 or January 1985

LITERATURE
Philippe Guimiot (adv.), African Arts, Vol. XV, No. 1, November 1981, p. 89, inside back cover

CATALOGUE NOTE
The oldest known city in Sub-Saharan Africa, Djenné-Jenno was the center of an empire that flourished between the
11th and the 17th centuries in the Inland Niger Delta region of present-day Mali. The city gives its name to the
"Djenné" style of terracotta figures which were excavated in that region. These mysteriously powerful sculptures are
evidence of a highly sophisticated artistic culture and often show the human body in contorted positions or with
grotesque disfigurations. The present sculpture is pierced, presumably to hang as a pendant, and is comparable to
others collected in the region showing contorted or deformed bodies. Van Dyke (2008: 64) notes that physical
afflictions are sometimes associated with occult power in the ancient oral traditions of the region, and that "similar
ideas might be at work in the sculptural corpus."
Although little is known about the original cultural context of Djenné art, themes relating to maternity, birth, disease,
death and grief frequently appear in these sculptures. The iconography of the present figure is remarkable in that
it employs a number of these themes in one image, combining different phases of human life. The figure is in a fetal
pose, but with the head of an adult; the posture is contorted as if by some affliction, and the face conveys an
expression of loss and grief.
Although similar examples of Djenné figural pendants survive, the present example stands as the finest known. For a
figure in a similar contorted fetal pose, see De Grunne (1998: 84, fig. 5).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 136
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
DOGON RITUAL OBJECT, MALI
Height: 12 3/4 in (32.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Jean Herment, Metz
Paolo Morigi, Lugano
Helmut Gernsheim, Castagnola
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in 1978

CATALOGUE NOTE
This fine figural-architectural sculpture features a seated figure above a tall flat form, with geometric
openwork, resembling the hilt of a knife. Several related works are known: see one in the Seattle Art Museum (inv.
no. "67.53"); and another offered at Sotheby's Paris, December 5, 2003, lot 112. All share in common small pieces of
metal which preclude the presence of a blade where it would be expected, and indeed seem too thin and broad to be
handles. These metal pieces were seemingly for the addition of an unknown attachment though none with any such
attachment is known. Although the specific use of this enigmatic object remains a mystery, the layered patina attests
to its function within sacred ceremonies, as the refined quality of the sculpture does to its ritual importance.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 137
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
DOGON HEDDLE PULLEY, MALI
Height: 7 1/4 in (18.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Merton D. Simpson, New York
Harold Rome, New York, acquired from the above in 1963 (inv. no. 266)
Ben Heller, New York, acquired from the above
Sotheby's New York, November 29, 1984, lot 146
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired at the above auction

EXHIBITED
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Selections from the African Heddle Pulley Collection of Harold Rome, March 27 -
May 2, 1971
The Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Three African Traditions: the Art of the Dogon, Fang and Songye
, January 31 - April 18, 1999; additional venue:
The Museum for African Art, New York, April 30 - August 15, 1999

LITERATURE
Allentown Art Museum, Selections from the African Heddle Pulley Collection of Harold Rome, Allentown, 1971, cat. 44
Gerald Berjonneau and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Rediscovered Masterpieces of African Art, Boulogne, 1987, p. 263, fig.
261
Allen Wardwell, Three African traditions: the Art of the Dogon, Fang and Songye, Greenwich, 1999, p. 37, cat. 58
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 138
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
LOBI BRASS MALE FIGURE, BURKINA FASO
Height: 4 in (10.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Scott Rodolitz, New York
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in November 1989
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 139
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KULANGO BRONZE FEMALE FIGURAL PENDANT, IVORY COAST
Height: 3 1/4 in (8.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 3,000-5,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Reginald Groux, Paris
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in October 1995
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 140
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
MOSSI FEMALE FIGURE, BURKINA FASO
Height: 13 in (33 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Christine Valluet, Paris
Drs. Nicole and John Dintenfass, New York, acquired from the above in 1995
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
The present figure is identifiable by its elongated torso and arms, sagittal crest, and high pointed breasts as the work
of a Mossi sculptor of central Burkina Faso. According to Roy (1987: 152), "the Mossi produce several types of
figures, including wooden figures that are used in burials, where they replace the corpse of the chief. Smaller wooden
figures are used in village ceremonies that honor the chief [...] in contrast to masks, which are used by the Tengabisi
in family religious ceremonies, figures are used by the Nakomsé in a political context, as visual affirmations of the nam
or right to rule of the Naba."
Free standing Mossi figures are rare, and miniature examples rarer still. This elegant example bears an
exceptionally fine, partially encrusted patina consistent with long ritual use. See Roy (ibid.: 10 and 161, fig. 128) for a
large size figure of closely related style.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 141
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
GURO HEDDLE PULLEY, IVORY COAST
Height: 8 3/8 in (21.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-20,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Oliver Le Corneur and Jean Roudillon, Paris
Harold Rome, New York (inv. no. "275"), acquired from the above in 1959
Ben Heller, New York
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above

EXHIBITED
Joe and Emily Lowe Art Center, Syracuse University, Syracuse, Masterpieces of African Sculpture, February 16 - April
1, 1964
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Selections from the African Heddle Pulley Collection of Harold Rome, March 27 -
May 2, 1971
Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., African Miniature Sculpture: The Weaving Pulley Collection of Harold Rome
, May 1975 - February 1976

LITERATURE
M. Peter Piening, Masterpieces of African Sculpture, Syracuse, 1964, p. 48, cat. 114
Warren M. Robbins, African Art in American Collections, New York, 1966, p. 85, fig. 74
Allentown Art Museum, Selections from the African Heddle Pulley Collection of Harold Rome, Allentown, 1971, cat. 71
Frederick Lamp, "African Weaving and Traditional Dress", African Arts, Vol. IX, no. 2, January 1976, p. 64
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 142
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
ASANTE COMB, GHANA
Height: 10 1/2 in (26.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Marvin Chasin, London
Dr. Fred Baekeland, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in August 1977

EXHIBITED
Museum for African Art, New York, Hair in African Art and Culture, February 9 - May 28, 2000; additional venues:
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, 2000
APEX Museum, Atlanta, 2000
California African-American Museum, Los Angeles, 2001
Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, Detroit, 2001
Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, 2001
DuSable Museum of African-American History, Chicago, 2002
Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, 2002
Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, Jackson, 2002

LITERATURE
Roy Sieber and Frank Herreman, Hair in African Art and Culture, New York, 2000, p. 126, cat. 117

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a closely related comb previously in the collection of William W. Brill see Sotheby's New York, November 17,
2006, lot 148.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 143
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
MANO PASSPORT MASK, LIBERIA
Height: 3 1/2 in (8.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Irwin Hersey, New York
Robert Banks, Washington, D.C.
James Tyler, Washington, D.C.
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in 1996
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 144
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KULANGO COMB, IVORY COAST
Height: 9 3/8 in (23.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Philip Sanfield, St. Louis
Margaret H. Demant, Detroit, acquired from the above
Rey Kerr, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in July 1996
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 145
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
ASANTE FERTILITY FIGURE, GHANA
akua ba.
Height: 9 3/4 in (24.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
George Juergens, The Old Curiosity Shop, New York
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in February 1968

EXHIBITED
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, permanent exhibition, July 1970 - March 1971

LITERATURE
No author, "Opening of the New Permanent Gallery: The Cleveland Museum of Art", African Arts, Vol. VIII, no.
3, Spring 1975, p. 74
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 146
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
SAPI STONE FIGURE, SIERRRA LEONE AND LIBERIA
nomoli.
Height: 6 1/2 in (16.5 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private European Collection
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in 1985

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a related nomoli with long, swept back, zoomorphic ears and a fearsome toothy grimace, see Himmelheber (1960:
135, fig. 116).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 147
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
SAPI STONE MATERNITY FIGURE, SIERRRA LEONE AND LIBERIA
nomoli.
Height: 4 3/8 in (11.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Vittorio and Marina Mangio, Monza
Johann Levy, Paris
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in June 2004

LITERATURE
Aldo Tagliaferri, Pomdo, mahen yafe et nomoli, Paris, 2003, pl. 35
Aldo Tagliaferri, "Images of Death: Mahen Yafe, Pomdo, and Nomoli", KAOS: Parcours des Mondes, No. 3,
September 2003, p. 107
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 148
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KISSI STONE FIGURE, SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA
pomdo.
Height: 6 1/8 in (15.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Michel Gaud, Saint Tropez
Bernard Dulon, Paris
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in July 2004
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 149
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
BOKI JANUS HEADCREST, CROSS RIVER REGION, NIGERIA
Height: 6 1/4 in (15.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Morton Dimondstein, Los Angeles
Noble Endicott, New York, acquired from the above
Johann Levy, Paris, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above, June 2008

EXHIBITED
Tribal Arts Gallery 2, New York, Two: Aspects of the Doubled Image in African Art, December 1975 - February 1976
LITERATURE
Albert Gordon and Leonard Kahan, Two: Aspects of the Doubled Image in African Art, New York, 1976, pp. 26-27,
cat. 79
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 150
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
MUMUYE ANCESTOR FIGURE, NIGERIA
Height: 15 3/8 in (39.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Barry Kitnick, Los Angeles
Private Collection, New York
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in 1986

CATALOGUE NOTE
The Mumuye of Northeastern Nigeria were almost completely unknown to the outside world until the 1960s. Their
sophisticated statuary represents the human form with strikingly abstract elongated shapes, ingeniously playing upon
positive and negative space with openwork subtraction from a columnar whole. Kerchache (1988: 546) notes:
"[Mumuye] statuary does not depict ancestors but rather incarnates tutelary spirits. Yet, statues reinforce the status
and prestige of their owner who, as he holds them in his hands, has a dialogue with them and thus ensures his
personal protection." Small-scale Mumuye statues are rare, and the present figure is among the finest known.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 151
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
MANGBETU KNIFE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
namambele.
Length including blade: 9 in (22.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Belgian Collection
Patrick Dierickx, Brussels, acquired from the above
Michael Oliver, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Schildkrout and Keim (1990:148) note: "Mangbetu blacksmiths made a great variety of knives, each with a particular
name and some with a distinctive use. Men wore new knives fastened to their belts as decorations and symbols of
status. [...] By the early colonial period these knives were being made with anthropomorphic handles. Often the
carved head was made by someone other than the blacksmith." The present namambele dagger bears a finely-
carved anthropomorphic handle representing the head of a woman with the characteristic Mangbetu ruling-class
headdress and geometric scarification or body painting.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 152
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
YAKA EQUESTRIAN FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 2 7/8 in (7.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 4,000-6,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Josef Herman, Suffolk
Christie's Amsterdam, The Josef Herman Collection of African Art, December 12, 2000, lot 86
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired at the above auction
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 153
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
MBALA OR SUKU WHISTLE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 6 1/4 in (15.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Guillaume Arie, Brussels
Reginald Groux, Paris
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in November 1984

LITERATURE
Reginald Groux (adv.), Arts d'Afrique Noire, Spring 1985, no. 49, p. 41
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 154
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
PENDE IVORY AMULET, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Ikoko, carved from Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) tooth.
Height: 2 1/4 in (5.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
The British Museum, London (according to records at the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Charles Ratton, Paris
Harold Rome, Paris (inv. no. "602"), acquired from the above in December 1960
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in May 1986

EXHIBITED
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, African Ivories, June 26 - December 30, 1984
LITERATURE
Kate Ezra, African Ivories, New York, 1984, p. 29, cat. 52
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 155
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
DENGESE AMULET, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 2 3/8 in (6 cm)

ESTIMATE 4,000-6,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Guy Beudin, Brussels
Pierre Loos, Brussels, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in July 1995
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 156
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KUBA PIANGA PIPE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 6 in (15.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Reportedly collected in Kasia in 1909 and brought to Belgium in 1919
Pierre Loos, Brussels
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in June 1989

LITERATURE
No author, "Animation à Bruxelles", Arts D'Afrique Noire, no. 59, Autumn 1986, p. 45

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a related pipe from the Katherine White Reswick Collection possibly by the same hand, complete with a shaft and
mouthpiece, see Fagg (1968: no. 256).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 157
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KONGO-YOMBE IVORY FLYWHISK HANDLE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
THE CONGO
the handle carved from Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious) tooth.
Height of the ivory figure: 3 3/4 in (9.5 cm)
Height overall: 6 3/4 in (17.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private European Collection
Rey Kerr, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in May 1999

CATALOGUE NOTE
The seated figure forming the handle of this flywhisk is shown wearing a European-style collared tunic, belt, and
close-fitting cap, an attire adopted by Kongo leaders to signify power and prestige. Bassani (1988: 216) states: "Full
costumes in a style fashionable in Europe in the 16th century continued to be portrayed in Kongo ivories long after the
Portuguese had ceased to be a presence, and these styles were no longer worn in Europe. [...] Items of European
clothing were probably gifts to African rulers, who no doubt preserved them as exotic curiosities."
The lead-inlaid wood shaft below is decorated with geometric patterns seen frequently in Kongo and Kuba textiles,
relief decoration, and body scarification. For a photograph of such scarification see Neyt (2010: 312).
For a very closely related figure possibly by the same artist from the collection of René and Anne Vanderstraete, see
Felix (2010: 140-141, fig. 170).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 158
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KONGO-VILI WHISTLE CHARM, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Nsiba, mounted on associated Common Bush Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) horn.
Height of wood: 3 3/8 in (8.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Josef Herman, Suffolk
Christie's Amsterdam, The Josef Herman Collection of African Art, December 12, 2000, lot 241
William Watson, New Orleans, acquired at the above auction
Sotheby's Paris, June 23, 2006, lot 148
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above auction

LITERATURE
William Watson (adv.), Art and Auction, October 2004, p. 138
William Watson (adv.), Tribal Art, Autumn/Winter 2004, p. 116
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 159
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KONGO-VILI WHISTLE CHARM, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Nsiba, mounted on associated Common Bush Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) horn.
Height of figure: 4 7/8 in (12.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Alain Schoffel, Paris
Mia and Loed van Bussel, Amsterdam
Etude Viviane Jutheau - de Witt, Paris, Collection van Bussel, June 25, 1996, lot 12
Alain de Monbrison, Paris
Patrick Caput, Paris, acquired from the above
Philippe Ratton and Daniel Hourdé, Paris, acquired from the above
Rey Kerr, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Christine Mullen Kraemer (in Brincard 1989: 165) notes: "Elaborately carved human and animal forms adorn many of
the whistles from the Lower Zaire [Congo] River. The whistles may be made entirely of wood or of small antelope
horns accompanied by miniature sculptures. [...] Antelope horn whistles, often adorned with carved wooden finials,
were probably used in medicinal and hunting contexts. These whistles are associated with nkisi, a category of power
images endowed with substances by the nganga, a ritual specialist, and utilized to ensure successful endeavors and
to maintain good health (Söderberg 1966: 7-12). [... Bertil Söderberg] states that the sculptures adorning these
whistles are credited 'with spiritual power allowing the nganga to extract bullets by sucking [mpodi, to suck out] from a
wound inflicted during war or in the course of hunting' (ibid.:10-13)."
For a group of early Kongo-Vili nsiba whistles collected in the 19th century and today in the Museum für Völkerkunde,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, see Beumers and Koloss (1992: cats. 73-77). Another
related example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. "1980.7").
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 160
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
KONGO-VILI WHISTLE CHARM, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Nsiba, mounted on associated Common Bush Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) horn.
Height of figure: 3 7/8 in (9.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Morris J. Pinto, Paris and New York
Alain de Monbrison, Paris, acquired from the above
John Giltsoff, London, acquired from the above
Ron Nasser, New York, acquired from the above
Rey Kerr, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in January 1982
LITERATURE
Raoul Lehuard, Art Bakongo: les centres de style, Arnouville, 1989, vol. 1, p. 53

CATALOGUE NOTE
Christine Mullen Kraemer (in Brincard 1989: 165) notes: "Elaborately carved human and animal forms adorn many of
the whistles from the Lower Zaire [Congo] River. The whistles may be made entirely of wood or of small antelope
horns accompanied by miniature sculptures. [...] Antelope horn whistles, often adorned with carved wooden finials,
were probably used in medicinal and hunting contexts. These whistles are associated with nkisi, a category of power
images endowed with substances by the nganga, a ritual specialist, and utilized to ensure successful endeavors and
to maintain good health (Söderberg 1966: 7-12). [... Bertil Söderberg] states that the sculptures adorning these
whistles are credited 'with spiriual power allowing the nganga to extract bullets by sucking [mpodi, to suck out] from a
wound inflicted during war or in the course of hunting' (ibid.:10-13)."
For a group of early Kongo-Vili nsiba whistles collected in the 19th century and today in the Museum für Völkerkunde,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, see Beumers and Koloss (1992: cats. 73-77). Another
related example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. "1980.7").
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 161
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
LUBA CARYATID HEADREST, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 6 3/4 in (17.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-40,000 USD

PROVENANCE
John J. Klejman, New York
Private New York Collection, acquired from the above circa 1965
Pace Primitive, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in September 1994

CATALOGUE NOTE
Roberts and Roberts (1996: 98, text to cat. 36) note: "Throughout Africa, wooden headrests are used as pillows to
preserve intricate and labor-intensive coiffures, and to keep the head and neck cool during sleep. Headrests were
highly valued by Luba people, many of whom today recall their grandparents owning such objects. Headrests were
occasionally buried with their owners, or even interred in place of the deceased when the body was
irretrievable. During the Luba conflict with the Yeke at the end of the nineteenth century, the Yeke burned all Luba
headrests while leaving other objects intact."
And Dewey (1993: 21) states: "Coiffures frequently declare their owner's age, gender, rank or status, and are often
embellished and/or empowered by accoutrements and charms of a magico-religious nature. They then become signs,
symbols, and potent empowering devices that must be protected."
Recalling the caryatid form of the celebrated royal stools of the Luba, the headrest literally and metaphorically
supports the head of the sleeping owner with the form of a figure, probably a "female or primal ancestor" (Felix 1987:
34). Thus in addition to the important practical function of preserving the magnificent coiffures for which the Luba are
famous, the headrest is a link to the world of departed ancestors as the user enters a state of dreaming.
Muensterberger (in Falgayrettes 1989: preface) notes: "The manifestation of a dream is always obscure, even if it is
simple and logical at first glance. For the indigenous dreamer, there are no dreams but those that are in themselves
an enigma, and whose components carry symbolism indicative of various messages or omens. The dreamed images
are considered testimony of a mystical experience, completely removed from the sphere of conscious reality.
"Undoubtedly the headrest, and particularly those that are carved and constructed with great care, are perceived as
personal objects, perhaps invested with a spiritual dimension that could influence dreams."
For a closely related headrest attributed to the "Luvua" workshop, see Neyt (1993: 189).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 162
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
NGBANDI AMULET, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
green painted no. 16 on reverse, pierced and strung with a strap of Domestic Goat (Capra
hircus) hide.
Height: 4 3/8 in (11.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 30,000-50,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Leonard Kahan, New York
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in March 1980

CATALOGUE NOTE
Burssens (in Grootaers 2007: 117-118) notes: "Each Ngbandi village had one or more lombé (a warrior who had
proven his courage and was responsible for watching over the village and taking the lead in combat. [The Belgian
missionary Basiel] Tanghe added that a lombé who had killed somebody in extremely dangerous circumstances wore
a fruit from the kpwokoro tree on his arm during a battle: 'He who had killed two or three people [in war] would proudly
wear that number of fruits on his arm, along with a fetish [...] attached next to them... This attire is called maba.' There
are a few known examples of figurative amulets that were collected from the Ngbandi at the time, executed in both
wood and ivory." For several figures with closely related heads featuring the same notched scarification pattern on
the bridge of the nose, and several comparable amulets with metal-wrapped handles, see Grootaers (ibid.: 116, fig.
3.6 and 118, figs. 3.8 and 3.9). For several examples of related Ubangian pendants representing heads, strung on
leather straps, and also with the notched scarification, see also Grootaers (ibid: 246-247, figs. 5.15-5.17).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 163
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
LULUWA MALE POWER FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 7 1/8 in (18.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Karel Timmermans, Tervuren
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels
Marc Felix, Brussels
Margaret H. Demant, Detroit, acquired from the above on July 20, 1994
Rey Kerr, New York, acquired from the above
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above
LITERATURE
L'Impasse Saint Jacques (adv.), Arts d'Afrique Noire, No. 90, Summer 1994, p. 21

CATALOGUE NOTE
Petrides (2008: 123) notes: "Luluwa figurative sculpture, like that of the Songye, is as a rule related to the broad
category of bwanga. When a bwanga has the shape of a human figure, the term lupingu (pl. mpingu) can also be
applied; it should be considered the equivalent of the Luba and Songye peoples' nkishi (pl. minkishi). Among the
Luluwa, as among the Luba, Songye, and some other peoples, the term refers to what have been described here as
power objects--receptacles, or containers for magical substances."
And he continues (ibid.: 128): "In all the figures related to this cult, the notion of beauty and goodness was expressed
through anatomy as well as scarification and other forms of skin beautification. Thus long necks, large heads, and
high foreheads were considered signs of beauty. [...] The naturalistic imitation of an umbilical hernia also symbolized
the close bond between the ancestors and their descendants, and the succession of generations."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 164
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
AZANDE BONE FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
carved from African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) bone.
Height: 7 1/4 in (18.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Julius Carlebach, New York
Stanley Marcus, acquired from the above in 1952
John Lunsford, Dallas
Joel Cooner, Dallas
Rey Kerr, New York, acquired from the above in 1991
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in May 1996
EXHIBITED
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, African Art from Dallas Collections, July 26 - September 4, 1972

LITERATURE
John Lunsford, African Art from Dallas Collections, Dallas, 1972, cat. 125 (as Lega)

CATALOGUE NOTE
The faceted, inverted-triangular face and abstracted columnar form of the present figure is typical of the ritual
sculptures of the Azande in the region around the Lower Uele River, a tributary of the Ubangi River in the northeastern
part of present day Democratic Republic of the Congo. Such sculptures were used as a ritual device by members of
the Mani-Yanda initiation society. Grootaers (2007: 70) notes: "The Mani-Yanda association's main purpose was the
dissemination of magic among its male and female members that would ensure their general wellbeing: health,
fertility, and success in any undertaking." The use of cult objects (kore) was critical in Mani-Yanda practice.
Grootaers (ibid.: 71) continues: "The Zande [Azande] of the Lower Uele District were undoubtedly the most prolific
sculptors and modelers. [...] Mani officials kept the statues on a platform in a special hut in the forest and might own
up to a dozen of them. They were fed and rubbed with red camwood powder (mbagu) or Mani paste, and they
received strings of beads, rings or coins in recognition of services rendered."
Anthropomorphic kore were known as nazeze or kudu, and the finest take the form of highly simplified, ingeniously
abstracted geometric bodies. No other Azande kore are known in elephant bone, undoubtedly a powerful and
significant substance. For several comparable Mani-Yanda figurative sculptures see Grootaers (2007: 70-81).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 165
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
LEGA IVORY FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
carved from Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) tooth.
Height: 5 5/8 in (14.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
English Private Collection
Peter Adler, London, acquired from the above circa 1973
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in May 1979

CATALOGUE NOTE
The present figure is a fine example of the category first defined by Daniel Biebuyck (1986: 47) as one of the two
major style groups of Lega anthropomorphic sculpture, those with "a lozenge shaped flat or round head". De Grunne
(2008: 125) later refers to this group as the "Aviator Style". For seven statuettes in this style in the collection of the
Musée Royal de l'Afrique Central, Tervuren, see de Grunne (ibid: 127, fig. 12); particularly close to the present figure
is M.R.A.C. inv. no. "32 497".
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 166
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
LEGA IVORY FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
carved from African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) tusk.
Height: 6 1/4 in (15.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Jef van der Straete, Lasne
Freddy Rolin, Brussels, acquired from the above by March 1970 (inv. no. "380")
Michael Oliver, New York
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in March 1984

EXHIBITED
F. Rolin & Co., New York, African Ivories, May 10 - June 20, 1978
LITERATURE
Freddy Rolin, African Ivories, Brussels, 1978, p. 26, cat. 36
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 167
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
CHOKWE DOUBLE TOBACCO MORTAR, ANGOLA
Height: 6 in (15.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 15,000-25,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Merton D. Simpson, New York
Sotheby's New York, May 8, 1996, lot 134
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired at the above auction

CATALOGUE NOTE
This double tobacco mortar is decorated with masks carved in relief, probably representing Chihongo characters of
Chokwe masquerades. Arranged in two rows of four masks facing outwards, spaced at 90 degree angles, with the
second row staggered and inverted from the first, these faces are watchful in all directions. The use
of tobacco, whether by smoking or by the inhalation of snuff, has ritual significance among the Chokwe, and tobacco
paraphernalia is often adorned with rich magical symbols alluding to guardian ancestors.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 168
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
CHOKWE BACKREST FROM A CHAIR, ANGOLA
Height: 7 1/4 in (18.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Alain Dufour, Paris
Leonardo Vigorelli, Bergamo
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in June 2001
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 169
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
CHOKWE FIGURAL COMB, ANGOLA
Height: 5 3/4 in (14.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 3,000-5,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Michael Graham-Stuart, London
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in September 1986
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 170
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
BEMBE FEMALE FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
the eyes inlaid with porcelain.
Height: 5 1/4 in (13.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Reginald Groux, Paris
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above

LITERATURE
Reginald Groux (adv.), Arts d'Afrique Noire, no. 53, p. 40
Raoul Lehuard, Art Bakongo: les centres de style, Arnouville, 1989, vol. 2, p. 337, fig. G1-2-1
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 171
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
SONGYE MALE POWER FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 6 3/4 in (17.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels
Pace Primitive, New York, acquired from the above in 1981
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above in July 1982

EXHIBITED
The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Three African Traditions: the Art of the Dogon, Fang and Songye, January 31 - April
18, 1999; additional venue:
The Museum for African Art, New York, April 30 - August 15, 1999
LITERATURE
Allen Wardwell, Three African Traditions: the Art of the Dogon, Fang and Songye, Greenwich, 1999, p. 36, cat. 57
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 172
AFRICAN MINIATURE SCULPTURE FROM THE COLLECTION OF MARTIN AND ROBERTA
LERNER
BEMBE JANUS HEADED CHARM, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 3 1/4 in (8.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Josef Herman, Suffolk
Christie's Amsterdam, The Josef Herman Collection of African Art, December 12, 2000, lot 235
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels, acquired at the above auction
Martin Lerner, New York, acquired from the above

LITERATURE
No author, "Small things, great passions", Art Tribal, No. 8, Spring/Summer 2005, p. 98
CATALOGUE NOTE
For a closely related charm in the Musée Royal de l'Afrique Central, Tervuren (inv. no. "R.G. 55.3.156") see
Biebuyck (1981: 140), "collected by D. Biebuyck among the Basimnyaka (Lulenge sector) in southwestern
Bembeland. The owner was a member of the highest grade (biciba) in the Bembe variant of the bwami association.
The owner's father, also a bicaba, first acquired the figurine from one of the Basikasingo. The sculpture called 'ase'a
was used in the nguwe rites of the bwami association, not as an ancestral representation, but as an initiation object
that conveyed the far reaching wisdom and keen sense of equity of the high initiate."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 173
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF MRS. MONIQUE UZIELLI
LUMBO FIGURAL CHARM, GABON
Height: 4 1/2 in (11.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Dr. Paul Chadourne, Garches
Acquired from the above in 1954

CATALOGUE NOTE
Regarding a comparable Lumbo hook, Vogel (in Weber 1987: 27)notes: "Small Lumbo figures, usually representing
women, were carried to protect their owners from witchcraft." Robert Faris Thompson (op. cit.: 186) continues: "the
long-tailed headdress [is] a style which northern Bakongo call tuumba, long hair that can operate miracles."
For two closely related charms in the form of kneeling maternity groups see Perrois (1979: nos. 277 and 277a). See
also the celebrated hook from the collection of Léonce and Pierre Guerre, Marseille, sold at Sotheby's Paris, June 15,
2011, lot 3.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 174
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DRS. NICOLE AND JOHN DINTENFASS, NEW
YORK
KWERE MATERNITY GROUP STOPPER AND MEDICINE CONTAINER,
TANZANIA
Height overall: 7 7/8 in (20 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels
Drs. Nicole and John Dintenfass, New York, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 175
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
NGOMBE STOOL, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 11 3/4 in (29.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 8,000-12,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, San Francisco
Peter Wengraf, London and San Francisco
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1988
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 176
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
KAKA PATERNITY FIGURE, CAMEROON
Height: 17 in (43.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Merton D. Simpson, New York
Private Collection, New York

CATALOGUE NOTE
Paternity figures are exceptionally rare in African art. Amongst the Kaka who live in western Cameroon in the Mbem
area, south of the Mambila, the creations of such large scale works relates to ancestor veneration. Harter (1994: 47)
notes: "Ancestor veneration seems to hold a place of prime importance for them. It is supervised by the wantop, one
of the members of the chieftain's counsel, within the framework of the liturgies of the mbir male secret society. The
heavy encrustation on the present figure indicates a long period of ritual use.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 177
SHONA HEADREST, ZIMBABWE
Height: 5 3/8 in (13.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
William August Hoffman, Jr. (1920-2011), Chicago
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 178
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
ZULU NECKREST, SOUTH AFRICA
Length: 17 in (43.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, New York
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 179
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
TWENTY-FOUR KUBA TEXTILES, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
nineteen mounted on linen-covered stretchers.
The largest: 2 ft 10 in by 28 ft 7 in (86 by 922 cm)
The smallest: 1 ft 8 in by 1 ft 6 in (50.8 cm by 45.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
One acquired by the present owner from Sotheby's London, November 30, 1987, lot 268; the remainder acquired from
Spink, London; Gale Martin, New York; Fred Jahn, Munich; and Pierre Loos, Brussels, from 1983-1993
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 180
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF CECILLE AND MICHAEL PULITZER, SANTA
BARBARA
KONGO-YOMBE MATERNITY GROUP, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO
pfemba.
Height: 12 1/4 in (31.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 60,000-90,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Otto Bischofsberger, Lucerne
Paolo Morigi, Lugano
Sotheby's Paris, Collection Paolo Morigi: Art African et Océanien, December 6, 2005, lot 105
Cecille and Michael Pulitzer, Santa Barbara, acquired at the above auction

EXHIBITED
Palazzo della ragione, Padua, Un'arte per la Bellezza: Cosmesi e Salute nei Secoli, May 2 - June 17, 1984

LITERATURE
Paolo Morigi (adv.), African Arts, Vol. XV, No. 1, November 1981, p. 19
Raoul Lehuard, Art Bakongo: les centres de style, Arnouville, 1989, vol. 2, p. 480
Girolamo Zampieri and M. Cisotto, Un'arte per la Bellezza: Cosmesi e Salute nei Secoli, Padua, 1984, cat. 71

CATALOGUE NOTE
Yombe maternity figures (pfemba) were used in association with women's fecundity cults. The iconography of the
pfemba, a cross-legged woman in upright position, holding an infant and facing to the front, can be interpreted in two
ways: first, as a metaphor for the fertility of the people and the land, second as symbol for matriarchy.
Lehuard (1989, vol. II: 480-481) classifies the offered lot as being in sub-style J3 of Yombe statuary which he
characterizes by the "particular attention paid to the face, which reflects a sort of gentleness," the suppleness of the
attitude and the high quality of carving in the details. He also points out the "never before seen" mark of two
superimposed rectangles in relief on the upper arms of the figure.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 181
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
TEKE FEMALE POWER FIGURE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Height: 11 in (27.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Joseph Christiaens junior, Brussels
Private Collection, acquired from the above in the 1980s

LITERATURE
Raoul Lehuard, Les arts Bateke, Congo-Gabon-Zaire, Arnouville, 1996, p. 324, fig. 59.2.1

CATALOGUE NOTE
LaGamma (2007: 304) notes: "In Teke society the ikwii, or shades of the death, warded off calamities perpetrated by
witches. The father of a family invoked the ikwii of his father, mother, and sometimes his mother's brother on behalf of
his own children and wives. A shrine to one's deceased family members featured reliquary figures of some of those
individuals (buti) along with other items [...].
"Buti were named after and identified with the specific male ancestors whom they embodied. Generally those
individuals were renowned chiefs or leaders whose presence assured the community's well-being. The sacred
component of buti was composed of earth from the grave of the deceased, which was considered to contain traces of
his corporeal being. [...] As the responsibility of individual family leaders, buti were kept within their owners' home.
Those of a village leader afforded to benefits to the community at large. It appears that, on the death of its owner, a
buti was often buried with him along with all his other belongings."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 182
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF CECILLE AND MICHAEL PULITZER, SANTA
BARBARA
LEGA MASKETTE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
the eyes inlaid with Money Cowries (Cyprea moneta).
Height: 4 1/2 in (11.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Charles Ratton, Paris
Hubert Goldet, Paris
François de Ricqlès, Paris, Arts primitifs, collection Hubert Goldet, June 30 - July 1, 2001, lot 300
Cecille and Michael Pulitzer, Santa Barbara, acquired at the above auction
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 183
LEGA HANDMASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 6 1/4 in (15.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Ladislas Segy, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above on September 9, 1969
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 184
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, PARIS
KUBA MORTAR, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 7 in (17.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Frank van Craen, Brussels
Private Collection, Paris, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 185
PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
LEGA MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 6 3/4 in (17.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
John J. Klejman, New York
William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above on October 17, 1967
By descent from the above to the present owner
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 186
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
EASTERN PENDE MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
panya ngombe.
Height: 11 in (27.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ by Dr. R. Sulsenti in 1931
Sotheby's New York, May 5, 1997, lot 27
Philippe Guimiot, Brussels, acquired at the above auction
Private American Collection, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Discussing a closely related mask in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Phillips (in Phillips 1995: 264) notes: "Among the
formidable range of Pende masks the human and animal are often linked, and in the West Kasai one particular type
seems to share a masquerading and an architectural function. The lateral elongation of the panya ngombe masks
relates to the wild cow/bull (or buffalo) which itself has chiefly associations and was danced by a masquerader in
obviously regal dress, although this particular dancer (in a paradoxical role reversal that is to be expected in Pende
masking traditions) is the one who collects offerings at the end of the initiation festivities. Larger examples of this type
of mask exist than the ritual itself would demand. These are referred to as kenene and served to decorate the lintels
of major chief's houses."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 187
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
BIOMBO MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 14 in (35.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Pierre Vérité, Paris
Claude Vérité, Paris, by descent from the above
Bernard Dulon, Paris, acquired from the above
Private American Collection, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a closely related mask previously in the collection of Jay C. Leff, Uniontown, see Carnegie Institute (1969: cover).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 188
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
NGBANDI OR NGBAKA MASK, UBANGI REGION, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF THE CONGO
Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 60,000-90,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Robert Jacobsen, Copenhagen and Paris, by 1973
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels
Private American Collection, acquired from the above

EXHIBITED
Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, African Art - A Source of Inspiration for Modern Art, March 22 - May 19, 1986
LITERATURE
Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler, African Art in Private German Collections, Munich, 1973, p. 332, no. 477
Georg Oddner, Afrikanskt - Inspirationskälla för den moderna konsten, Malmö, 1986, p. 143, cat. 199

CATALOGUE NOTE
The present mask relates to those of the Ngbaka and the Mbanza of the Ubangi region of the present day Democratic
Republic of the Congo, with its Kaolin-whitened round concave eyes with horizontal slit openings, notched bridge of
the nose, small, narrow mouth, and whitened etched linear decorations. See Grootaers (2007: 168-171) for several
examples. Interestingly, it relates even more closely with two impressive masks of uncertain origin (op. cit.: 60, fig.
1.68 and 62-63, fig. 1.70), which have been tentatively attributed to the neighboring Ngbandi. Grootaers (61) notes:
"Not many masks have been attributed to the Ngbandi; in his overview of sculpture in the Ngbandi style, art historian
Herman Burssens reproduced only three specimens [...] One of these [1.68] was collected around the little town of
Monga, an area inhabited by Ngabndi-Dendi, Nzakara and Zande people, and it has been suggested that the mask
may have served in the dances of the closed Mani-Yanda association [... C]ollected by Anton Greshoff in around
1888, [the mask] has a contradictory provenance (Lower or Upper Mongala River), which renders its Ngbandi origin
quite uncertain. Nonetheless the Greshoff specimen served as a model to identify one of the most striking northern
Congo masks as Ngbandi (fig. 1.70). Whether the latter is indeed Ngbandi remains an open question."
Close similarities can also be seen in the faces of Ngbaka figures, for example one collected by Perlo in 1912 (op. cit.
: 126, fig. 322). Although the permeablity of Ubangian styles renders it difficult to pinpoint a specific origin for this
impressive mask, it is certainly among the finest examples of the rare masks of the Northern Congo region.
Particularly intriguing are the high arched ears, which give the face a zoomorphic appearance.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 189
SALAMPASU MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 11 3/4 in (29.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 60,000-90,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Martin Coppens (1908-1986), Eindhoven
Justin Barthels, Maastricht, acquired from the above
Louis Nierijnck, Maastricht, acquired from the above
Andrew J. Berz, San Francisco, acquired from the above

LITERATURE
Martin Coppens, Negro Sculpture: A Photographic Approach, Eindhoven, 1975, no. 284

CATALOGUE NOTE
The Salampasu inhabit the region between the Kasai and Lulua rivers in present-day Kasai Province of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo near the Angola border. Neyt (1981: 212) notes: "[...] the Salampasu are most
famous for their remarkable wood and raphia masks. The most important of these masks have metal fittings (copper
plating attached by brass nails)." Barbier (1998: 274, text to cat 218) continues: "Such masks [...] are worn in the
initiation rites of men's associations. Those adorned with copper plates were formerly worn in ceremonies
celebrating brave warriors. Salampasu masquerades were held in wooden enclosures decorated with
anthropomorphic figures carved in relief."

For an archival photograph of a related mask being worn in a Mfuku dance, see Neyt (ibid.: 217, fig. XI. 6). For a
closely related mask in the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
published in conjunction with the exhibition Primitivism in 20th Century Art at the Museum of Modern Art, New York,
see Rubin (1984: 171).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 190
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
SUKU MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 19 in (48.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Pace Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1986

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a closely related mask in the Buffalo Museum of Science which was acquired in 1946 from Guillaume de Hondt
see The Center for African Art (1988: 74).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 191
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
BEMBE JANUS HELMET MASK FOR THE ALUNGA SOCIETY, DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
echawokaba/echwaboga.
Height: 19 1/8 in (48.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 40,000-60,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Pace Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1986

EXHIBITED
The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, Charlotte Collects, 1987
The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, permanent exhibition, 1989-1994
CATALOGUE NOTE
Discussing a related mask in the Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva, Hahner-Herzog (1998: text to cat. 96) notes: "This
mask represents a type of mask which, according to the Bembe, goes back to the Bahonga, a hunting and gathering
people whose collecting of honey is said to have been done under the tutelage of this mask. With the Bembe it is
called ibulu lya alunga or echwaboga, represents a bush spirit (m'ma mwitu), and belongs to the accessories of the
hierarchically ordered Alunga men's association. The mask is used during acceptance ceremonies for new, usually
young members, as well as in hunting rites. For public appearances the carved helmet is decorated with an elaborate
headdress of feathers and porcupine (ehala) quills, and a neck fringe of fibers. The dancer is clad in a multilayered
fiber costume (asamba). These impressive Alunga masks are invariably conceived in the form of cylindrical helmets
with two, as it were, Janus faces, whose black rhombic or cross-shaped eyes with protruding pupils are set in large
oval hollows painted white. Due to these striking facial features the masks have been interpreted as representing
owls, with which the masqueraders in fact occasionally identify. In addition, the two faces are intended to invoke the
all-seeing nature of the mask spirit, a capacity which enables him to reconcile the opposing forces of nature, such as
male/female or day/night."

A closely related mask is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. "1979.206.243").
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 193
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
BAMANA OR MANINKA HELMET MASK, MALI
Misikun.
Height: 19 in.

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Emil Storrer, Zurich
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York (inv. no. "28031"), acquired from the above in September 1961
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
For a closely related domed, horned, faceted helmet mask in the Musée Dapper, Paris, see Falgayrettes-Leveau
(1995: 60). Another closely related mask, also previously owned by the Carlebachs, is in the Menil Collection in
Houston (inv. no. "X 0039"). Describing that example, Malé (in Van Dyke 2008: 62) notes: "In the context of initiation,
its role is evoked by the phrase ba kara misi; according to Youssouf Tata Cissé, quoted in Tal Tamari (2001: 101-
102), 'this designation is composed of ba (mother, basis) and kara (perfect circle, creation spirit, divine spirit); one
could translate this expression as foundational circles symbolizing the divine spirit [...]. Accordingly, the various
elements of the misikun mask seek this formal perfection."
He continues: "The misikun mask is attached to a wearable marionette in an ensemble worn by two performers. [...]
When it appears on the scene, the misiba [cow] walks around the area with a serene, graceful gait, and then stops in
the middle of the village. During this promenade the shepherd raises and lowers the stick like a rider encouraging his
steed. When the marionette stops moving, the young women intone the popular song "Misiba", composed in honor of
generous men. The misiba symbolizes generosity among the Bamana and Maninka. [...] The performance teaches
the duty of protecting those who are generous. Whereas the mask represents simply a bovid, the marionette evokes
a more specific contribution of ploughing cattle to the local agriculture production; through other songs, tribute is paid
to their labor."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 194
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LEGA IVORY SCEPTER, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) ivory.
Length: 11 1/4 in (28.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Boris Kegel-Konietzko, Hamburg
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, (inv. no. "20582") acquired from the above in September 1954
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 195
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LOBALA OR NZOMBO PRESTIGE KNIFE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO AND ANGOLA
the handle made of African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) ivory, the eyes inlaid with
copper.
Length: 20 1/4 in (51.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 196
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
SENUFO BIRD STATUE, IVORY COAST
Height: 59 3/4 in (152 cm)

ESTIMATE 70,000-100,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York (inv. no. "26061")
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
According to Kerchache (1988: 512) for the Senufo, the poro association "[...] is the pillar of communal life.
Responsible for the initiation and training of the young boys, it is aimed at shaping an accomplished, social man who
is integrated into the collective; it aids his entry into public responsibilities. [...] The Senufo believe in a god,
Koulotiolo, creator of the world, a distant and inaccessible diety. On the other hand, the mother of the village,
Katieleo, regenerates the world and redeems humankind through the initiation rites of the poro. [...] A male villager
who has not been initiated will be excluded from the village and will lose his rights as a citizen."
Garrard (in Phillips 1996: 457) notes: "In former times many of the men's secret Poro societies in the Senufo region
owned a large standing sculpture of a bird. This statue, kept in the sacred forest, was used in the rites for the
admission of initiates to the final phase of training. It generally had a hollowed base, which permitted it to be carried
on the head of an initiate. Some examples also have holes in the wings, through which cords were passed to steady
the bird when carried. [...] Older Senufo [...] usually name it as sejen or fijen [...] a term that simply means 'the bird'.
The significance of this bird is indicated more clearly by two other names. It is sometimes called kasingele, 'the first
ancestor', which may refer either to the mythological founder of the human race or to the ancestral founder of the
sacred forest. Alternatively, it is named poropia nong, which means literally 'mother of the Poro child'. The statue is
thus a primary symbol of the Poro leadership, indicating the authority of its elders."
The morphology of these rare statues references both male and female characteristics, with the swollen, pregnant
belly, and the elongated phallic beak. A related figure is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no.
"1978.412.382").
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 197
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
SALAMPASU MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height of mask: 10 1/2 in (26.7 cm)
Height with fiber beard: 26 in (66 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-35,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 198
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LEGA FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 3 3/8 in (8.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 10,000-15,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Jean Prueyus, Liege
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, acquired from the above in March 1961
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 199
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LUBA FIGURAL STAFF FINIAL, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Height: 15 3/8 in (39.1 cm)

ESTIMATE 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Hendrik Elias/Galerie Elmar, Wieze, Belgium
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, acquired from the above, April 1957
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 200
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LEGA ELEPHANT HIDE MASK, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
made of African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) hide, with Domestic Chicken (Gallus gallus)
feathers attached.
Height: 10 in (25.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 200,000-300,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ by Nicolas de Kun between 1948-1960
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, acquired from the above in April 1963
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Lega masks made from elephant hide are extremely rare. Only two other examples are known: one formerly in the
collection of Jef Vanderstraete, Lasne (Biebuyck 2002: 115, cat. 60). And a second in the Musée Royal de l'Afrique
Centrale, Tervuren, which was purchased in 1963 from A. Prigogine (inv. no. "RG 63.50.7", published in MRAC 1995:
243, cat. 209). The overall appearance and style of that mask is very similar to the Shoher mask. However, while the
Shoher mask shows evidence of extensive ritual use, especially in form of Lega-typical surface scrapings above the
mouth, around both eyes and around a conical hole on the proper right side above the eye, the Tervuren mask shows
no such evidence. It is conceivable, that the Tervuren mask was made as replacement of the Shoher mask.
In his discussion of the Tervuren mask, however, Biebuyck (in MRAC 1995: 376, text to cat. 209) suggests another
possibility: "This mask was probably cut out in the sole of an elephant foot. The oval shaped, flat mask has ovoid open
eyes and mouth, circular open nostrils, a broad nose marked by incisions. [...] It is possible that in some ritual
communities the Lega initiates of Bwami used similar masks, mainly as replacement for the larger, lost or confiscated,
communally owned wooden or ivory masks. [This hypothesis appears implausible in light of the existence of the
Shoher mask which was, of course, unknown to Biebuyck at the time of his publication. Based on the extent of ritual
surface scraping on the Shoher mask it must have been at least 50 years old at the time of its collecting which would
date it to the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. Even a significantly earlier date is conceivable.] In the Bwami initiations
that I witnessed throughout Lega-land, I have not observed the use of similar masks in elephant hide with feather
trimmings. In its total appearance, the object is very similar to extremely secret face masks manufactured in animal
hide or beaded cloth, with feather trimmings, and eventually also with arrangements of porcupine quills. These masks
are worn before the face by high-ranking members of the 'Elanda association and seen only in an initiation house
behind a screen. This association occurs among the Bembe and some of the adjoining Eastern Lega groups.
Functionally the 'Elanda mask is very different from the Bwami mask among the Lega, because it is a transformation
device that makes its wearer into a spirit-like being with the purpose of enhancing social control functions." However,
in his publication of the Vanderstraete Mask, Biebuyck reaffirmed the Lega attribution (2002: 115, cat. 60).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 201
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LEGA IVORY FEMALE FIGURE, ROUNDED STYLE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF THE CONGO
African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) ivory.
Height: 7 5/8 in (19.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 300,000-500,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, inv. no. "29727"
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Lega spiritual belief is manifest in all objects attached to the initiation rituals of the bwami society. The bwami is an
organization open to men and women who are married to male members, with graded membership and complex
initiation rites that imposes a high moral and philosophical code. Above all, it teaches co-operation amongst its
members. The Lega believe that the bwami association is present both in the afterlife and among the living; bwami
provides the bridge between the living and the departed. The initiation ceremonies are accompanied by various ritual
paraphernalia.
A Lega proverb states that "On ivory, mushrooms do not grow" (Biebuyck 1973: 174), indicating that ivory objects are
impervious to the effects of time. According to Cameron (2001: 120-121), large "anthropomorphic figures, carved
mainly in ivory, [...] called iginga (pl. maginga) [...] are individually owned by the highest ranking members of Bwami
and are the most coveted of all initiation objects. [...] The works can either be inherited through the mother's family or
can be commissioned by a teacher to give to an initiate (Biebuyck 1986: 54). Of all the initiation objects, the Lega
consider maginga to have the strongest innate power, and they can often use bits of the ivory scraped from these
figures to mix a drink intended for medicinal purposes (Biebuyck 1973: 174)."
The inherent power, called magala, could be activated in the context of bwami, making the object a masango, which
translates as "heavy thing." The various scrapings on the surface of the Shoher figure, including the proper left foot,
shin, knee and hip, the genitals, the proper left arm and shoulder, the umbilicus, proper left breast, chin and nose, are
evidence of extended ritual use and attest at the same time to the figure's magala and its quality as masango.
Stylistically, two classic styles can be distinguished in Lega ivory statuary: the "Round Head and Body Style" vs. the
"Lozenge Face Style" (Biebuyck 1986, vol. II: 47); de Grunne (2008: 134-135) suggests the terminology "Bibendum
Style" for the round and "Aviator Style" for the lozenge styles. According to de Grunne (2008: 135), only "about fifteen
statues in the Bibendum Style are known."
The Shoher figure is a magnificent example of this rare Rounded/Bibendum Style. Its inherent power and quality as
masango is emphasized by a large cowry shell which is carved on top of the figure's head. Based on the deep honey
to gold brown patina and the signs of long ritual use, it can safely be dated to the 19th century, if not earlier.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 202
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
IGBO MASK, NIGERIA
Height: 16 1/2 in (41.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Boris Kegel-Konietzko, Hamburg
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, acquired from the above in 1963
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
The north central part of the Igbo region of southeastern Nigeria is home to one of the oldest and most diverse
masking traditions. Hundreds of spirit-characters are represented with a rich variety of masks. For a related mask
from that region, see Cole and Aniakor (1984: 118, fig. 220). Regarding the use of this type of mask, Cole notes
(ibid): "Younger men - unruly, adventurous, strong, exuberant, inexhaustible - dominate the swarms of the 'Locust
Spirits', Igwulube Mmanwu, that invade villages at dry season festivals [...] bright eyed and restless, donning dozens
of masking costumes to fill the air with spirits, like locusts, 'flying', running, trampling, whipping, playing the fool,
harassing, stirring up trouble, flocking from one place to another for hours on end, usually in groups."
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 203
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LOBI JANUS HEADED STOOL BY SIKIRE KAMABIRÉ (1896-1963), BURKINA
FASO
Height: 11 in (27.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 4,000-6,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Leendert van Lier, Utrecht
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, inv. no. "26552", acquired from the above in January 1960
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
The style of this finely carved stool, with a flat janus head, drilled pupils and nostrils, and a crested, colored
coiffure, identify it as the work of the famous Lobi carver Sikire Kamabiré of Gaoua, Burkina Faso. A closely related
example is in the collection of the Rietberg Museum in Zurich (see Meyer 1981: 141, plate 189), and another was in
the Helena Rubinstein Collection (see Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, April 21, 1966, lot 93).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 204
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
BONGO FUNERARY FIGURE, SUDAN
Height: 31 in (78.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv

CATALOGUE NOTE
The Bongo people, a population of hunters and farmers, were decimated in the second half of the 19th century,
particularly due to the expansion of the Zandé kingdoms. Today the Bongo live in communities scattered throughout
south-western Sudan. Traditionally, a Bongo man acquired status during his lifetime through recognition of his talents
as a hunter and warrior. Those who were most respected were honored upon their death by the raising of a wooden
effigy, or ngya, marking the site of their tomb. Each community had its own master sculptors, as Sir Edward Evans-
Pritchard noted during his journey in the Tonj region in the 1920s (1929: 1-61).
Little known to the outside world until the late 1960s, Bongo sculpture was represented in Western collections before
then only by a figure in the British Museum (von Sydow 1954: pl. 134 A), collected in 1846 by John Petherick. A
group of about 17 statues was collected by Christian Duponcheel between 1969 and 1972, and of this group several
are today in major museum collections, including the Menil Collection, Houston (Van Dyke 2008: 166, cat. 77),
the Barbier Mueller Museum, Geneva (Philipps 1995 : 137, no. 2.18a), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York (inv. no. "1973.264").
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 205
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LOWER SEPIK RIVER MALE FIGURE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
berón kandimbong.
Height: 54 in (137.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 70,000-100,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
In his discussion of a closely related figure, Smidt (in Kooten and Heuvel 1990: 235-236) notes: "This important figure
most likely represents a beron-kandimbong (also spelled kandimboag), a mythical culture hero and clan founder. The
term beron means 'loincloth'. A cloth of this sort, made of beaten bark, was formerly worn by adult males after having
undergone an initiation ceremony for the first time. [...] The conical point on the head was for attaching a wig of human
hair, and eventually a funnel-shaped 'hive' up through which the hair was pulled to terminate in a knot. [...] The holes
in the edging of the face was for attaching a plaited fringe such as that given to masks, for the purpose of attaching a
beard of human hair, a wreath of shell ornaments, or feathers. [...] The pervading redness of the figure refers to the
custom of smearing the body for festive occasions with burnt red earth mixed with coconut oil. [...]
"Such figures were displayed in the men's ceremonial house and were worshipped as beings with souls. During the
initiation of the son of the owner a spear was placed next to the kandimbong, as a sign that the figure was filled with
magic power. The spear was to point all at once at the boy who would then go into a trance as [interpreter] of the
kandimbong. The spirit of the figure could also appear in dreams to the owner, often a renowned member of the clan,
and speak and sing to him. This figure will have played a role of seminal importance as to the well-being of a clan,
probably in particular regard to hunting, initiation, and love. In the naturalistic hallmarks of the human body this figure
refers to man, in the [...] decorative elements to man in festive dress, and thus at the same time to the transformation
from man to supernatural being. Through this, and through the artistic eloquence with which the artist has managed to
breathe life into it, it remains a wonderful testimony of the unity of man and the 'invisible'."
The Shoher figure is distinguished by its refined carving style and the bird or flying fox motif on the forehead. For a
closely related figure previously in the collection of Allan Stone see Christie's New York, Selections from the Allan
Stone Collection, November 12, 2007, lot 647.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 206
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
LOWER SEPIK RIVER MALE FIGURE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Height: 35 1/2 in (90.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 25,000-40,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ by Ingeborg de Beausacq
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York (inv. no. "25376"), acquired from the above in 1958
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
Discussing a related figure, Smidt (in Kooten and Heuvel 1990: 234) notes: "The scarification motifs on both male and
female figures often signify animals (or part of animals) that can probably be considered totemic animals of the various
clans." The present figure features frogs carved in relief at each upper leg and incised fish on either side of the
abdomen.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 207
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
IATMUL MALE FIGURE, MIDDLE SEPIK RIVER, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
the beard made of Human (Homo sapiens) hair.
Height: 56 1/4 in (142.9 cm)

ESTIMATE 60,000-90,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Claire and Ernest Zeisler, Chicago
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York (inv. no. "21350 / 24554"), acquired from the above in November 1960
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
The form of the head of the present figure relates to Iatmul gable masks of the Middle Sepik region, which are carved
in shallow relief with bold, graphic facial features. For a closely related mask previously in the JOLIKA collection of
Marcia and John Friede, New York, see Friede (2005: 110, cat. 172).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 208
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
TORRES STRAIT ISLANDS TORTOISESHELL MASK, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
made of Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) shell.
Height: 7 5/8 in (19.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 150,000-250,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Presumably from a European Museum Collection
Julius and Josefa Carlebach, New York, acquired between 1954 - 1957
Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher, Tel Aviv, acquired from the above

CATALOGUE NOTE
The famous turtle shell masks of the Torres Strait Islands are among the most visually powerful works of Oceanic art.
Named after Luis Baéz de Torres, the first Westerner to sail through the sea-passage between mainland Australia and
the island of New Guinea in 1606, the strait is interspersed by 274 islands of different sizes which have been inhabited
since more than 2,500 years and produced one of the most fascinating culture-clusters of island Melanesia. The
exceptional role of Torres Strait culture has been highlighted by Douglas Fraser already in his 1958 dissertation
Torres Straits Sculpture. Fraser (1978: 1-2) notes: "The islands that virtually bridge the ninety-mile gap between New
Guinea and Australia once formed the chief continuous transition-ground between these major culture-areas, the sole
region in this category. The Straits islands have long attracted attention as the probable stepping stones used by the
primitive Tasmanians and Australians moving into their more recent habitats and, since the only direct water-route
from the Arafura Sea and Indonesia to the Coral Sea involves a transit of Torres Straits, the area has figured
importantly in several controversies about migrations to Melanesia and Polynesia."
And he continues (27): "The masks of Torres Straits are [...] one of the outstanding art forms of the primitive world.
The principal examples were constructed of wood or turtleshell, although some were fashioned of palm spathe, bark,
grass, leaves or even European tin. In turtleshell, a medium almost universally prized for its beauty of color and
surface, the craftsmen of Torres Straits achieved what is unquestionably the most expressive development of this
material in the entire world. As a rule, the Straits artists depicted human or animal features in their masks, but
sometimes these were imaginatively combined so as to represent mythological or supernatural beings. Frequently
feathers, shells, seeds and hair were attached to the variously constructed masks giving them an additive or
composite appearance."
Regarding the manufacture of the tortoiseshell masks, Friede (2005: 169, text to cat. 500) explains: "Very large
marine turtle plaques were locally available and were the principal artistic medium on the Torres Strait Islands. These
plaques can be cut or permanently shaped when heated. The turtle shell masks were often more elaborate than the
wooden ones, combining human and animal aspects referring to mythical culture heroes 'and their associated totems.'
Examples are a crocodile head surmounted by a human face or a human face surmounted by a bird."
Stylistically, the treatment of the eyes of the Shoher Mask closely resembles a mask which was collected by
McFarlane and is today in the British Museum, London (inv. no. "3397"). This mask has been suggested to originate
form Mabuiag island (Fraser 1978: 223, text to pl. 14). The pierced holes around the masks edge suggest that the
mask originally had additional attachments such as smaller tortoiseshell plaques, shells, or cassowary feathers.
However, given the relatively small size of the Shoher mask it is also conceivable that it was the central piece of a
larger composition combining a human face with animal features. For the latter see Fraser (1978: pls. 10-13, 48, 50,
51, 71).
Pre-contact Torres Strait islands turtleshell masks like the Shoher Mask are exceedingly rare, and only few remain
private hands. Most were collected by members of colonial expeditions that visited several island communities in the
second half of the nineteenth century. Today, several masks are found in the British Museum and the Cambridge
University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, England. Most of these were collected by the renowned scholar
Alfred Cort Haddon during his two expeditions to the Torres Strait in 1888-1889 and 1898, respectively. Others were
obtained by the London Missionary Society. Although the source of the torn and partially missing paper label on the
reverse of the Shoher Mask has not yet been identified, it is likely that it originates from a European museum.
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 209
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZAFRIRA AND ITZHAK SHOHER, TEL AVIV
VITI WAR CLUB, FIJI ISLANDS
inlaid with Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) tooth.
Length: 39 1/2 in (100.3 cm)

ESTIMATE 12,000-18,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Ohio
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 210
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
HAWAIIAN BOWL, HAWAII
Height: 7 1/4 in (18.4 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Merton D. Simpson, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above on November 19, 1970
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858
LOT 211
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
TWO HAWAIIAN BOWLS, HAWAII
Heights: 9 3/4 and 4 in (24.8 and 10.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Merton D. Simpson, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner on November 19, 1970
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 212
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
EWA MALE FIGURE, KOROWORI RIVER, MIDDLE SEPIK PROVINCE, PAPUA
NEW GUINEA
Height: 70 in (117.8 cm)

ESTIMATE 100,000-150,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Collected in situ by Dr. Philip Goldman
Goldman Family Collection, London
Marcia and John Friede, New York, acquired from the above
Sotheby's Paris, December 3, 2009, lot 27
Private European Collection, acquired at the above auction

CATALOGUE NOTE
Large scale Ewa figures such as the offered lot were essentially unknown to art historians until the second half of the
20th century. In 1968, the exhibition The Caves of Karawari at the art dealer Maurice Bonnefoy's D'Arcy Galleries in
New York made a "considerable impact" upon the public, revealing one hundred or so hitherto unknown Yiman
yipwon figures, together with male aripa figures from the neighbouring Ewa people.
These figures are rarely found in such monumental size. This male figure was carved to be seen in profile, and rests
on a single leg; the openwork chest is executed in a succession of characteristic notched forms, the raised decorative
motifs highlighted with white and red ochre pigments.
As with the large yipwon figures, aripa figures represent hunting spirits. They were kept in a sacred part of the men's
ceremonial house, and after the death of their owners were placed alongside them in rock shelters or in caves, which
were then used as places of worship or commemoration (Kaufmann 2003: 98).
For a related figure in the Museum der Kulturen, Basel, see Kaufmann (2003: 32).
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 213
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
ABELAM BASKETRY MASK, PRINCE ALEXANDER MOUNTAINS, MIDDLE
SEPIK RIVER, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
baba tagwa.
Height: 15 1/4 in (38.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 5,000-7,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, New York, acquired in the 1960s or early 1970s
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 214
POSSIBLY ASMAT PAIR OF MALE AND FEMALE FERTILITY CHARMS, IRIAN
JAYA
The male: 4 in (10.2 cm)
The female: 9 1/8 in (23.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Dr. and Mrs. Christiaan Benjamin Bär, Voorburg, collected in situ in Irian Jaya between 1956 and 1959
Acquired by the present owner from the above
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 215
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
BIWAT CROUCHING FIGURE, LOWER SEPIK REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Height: 4 5/8 in (11.7 cm)

ESTIMATE 6,000-9,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Christophe Tzara, Paris
Sotheby's London, July 8, 1969, lot 143
Private Collection, New York, acquired at the above auction
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 216
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
RAMU RIVER MASK FROM A SACRED FLUTE, LOWER SEPIK REGION,
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
painted underneath in black ink: "I.C. 5821. / Ramu. / Dr. Bassler"
Height: 8 3/4 in (22.2 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Dr. Arthur Baessler (1857-1907), collected in situ between 1887 and 1889
Linden Museum, Stuttgart, before 1914
Mathias Komor, New York
Private Collection, New York, acquired from the above on May 22, 1969
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property
from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
New York | 11 May 2012, 10:00 AM | N08858

LOT 217
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF CHRISTOPHER WALLING, NEW YORK
NIAS GOLD PECTORAL, INDONESIA
Height: 13 5/8 in (34.6 cm)

ESTIMATE 7,000-10,000 USD

PROVENANCE
Linda Pastorino, New York
Christopher Walling, New York, acquired from the above

EXHIBITED
The Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, Gold, (organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York), April
1, 2009 - July 1, 2009; additional venues:
The Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta September 1, 2009 - January 1, 2010
The Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, February 5, 2010 - May 16, 2010
The Field Museum, Chicago, October 15, 2010 - March 6, 2011

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