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The Collection of Allan Stone: African, Oceanic, and Indonesian Art – Volume One

RESULTS

The Collection of Allan Stone: African, Oceanic, and Indonesian Art comfortably exceeded the high estimate of $8.8 million to total $11,489,750 with 94% of lots sold. The top price of the sale was achieved for a Songye "Four Horn" Community Power Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo which sold to The Dallas Museum of Art for $2,165,000, more than double the $900,000 high estimate, after it was sought by four bidders. There were strong prices throughout the sale with the Oceanic and Congolese sections performing particularly well and numerous records set. The collection has already achieved one of the highest totals for an African and Oceanic Art sale and is set to break the record for a single-owner collection in the category when the second part is offered in November 2014.

Heinrich Schweizer, Senior Vice President and Head of Sotheby’s African and Oceanic Art Department in New York commented: “The brilliant success of the first portion of masterpieces from the collection attests to the market’s strong response to the cuttingedge aesthetic vision of Allan Stone. Throughout the sale we saw deep bidding at all levels of the market, fueled by global interest with buyers from the US, Europe, the Middle East, China, and Russia. We now look ahead to the sale of the second part of the collection in
November 2014.”

OVERVIEW

The legendary contemporary art dealer Allan Stone acquired his first African artwork in 1955, and over the next 50 years built one of the most important private collections in the world of arts from primary cultures. Many of the works offered have been featured extensively in museum exhibitions and important publications.  The collection is best known for its strong holdings of Songye Power Figures and Kongo Nail Power Figures from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is the largest private collection in the world of these extremely rare works.  Other highlights include an ancient Proto-Dogon Female Wood Figure from Mali, dated circa 900-1030 AD, a monumental Kuba-Kete Figural Headdress from the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is one of only five known and the only one remaining in private hands.  The sale will also feature an exceptional selection of rare Oceanic and Indonesian artwork.

To learn more about Allan Stone and his collection, please visit our blog page.