An important punu mask, gabon

of hollowed diamond-shaped form and elegant proportions, the circular face with streight parallel lips, petite nose with delicately seperated nostrils bisecting the squinting eyes flanked by notched scarifications on the forehead and temples, the whole framed by an elaborate coiffure with central crest and braids merging below the chin; fine aged patina with traces of kaolin and dark brown pigment.

Possibly Frank Burty Haviland (1880-1950), Paris
Pierre Peissi, Paris
South American Private Collection, by the 1960s

The present lot has been requested by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, for inclusion in its upcoming exhibition, The Invention of the 20th Century: Carl Einstein and the Avant-garde, scheduled to be held in Madrid from November 11, 2008 to February 16, 2009.

Carl Einstein, Negerplastik, Leipzig, 1915, pl. 102

very good condition overall for a mask of this type and age; on reverse two segments of rim broken and reattached, minor chip on bottom of rim; abrasions to dark brown pigment on the extreme point of the coiffure (left, right, top) and to kaolin on surface; otherwise exceptionally fine aged patina on front as well as back, attesting not only to the great age but also long use of the mask prior to its being collected.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This beautiful Punu mask was published in 1915 by the German poet and art critic Carl Einstein (1885-1940) in his influential book Negerplastik. A friend of the artists Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, as well as of the prominent modern art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (for Einstein's correspondence with the latter see Dimanche 1993: passim), Einstein had discovered African and Oceanic art during his studies in Berlin (1904-1907) in the rooms of the Museum für Völkerkunde (today: Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz). Negerplastik is credited as being the first monograph presenting African and Oceanic sculptures as art and highlighting its inspirational relationship to Cubism. It was widely read by the European avant-garde and several early 20^th century artists are known to have owned a copy, including Gris, Braque, Picasso and Moore, to name just a few.

We do not know with certainty who owned this mask at the time it was published in Negerplastik. Bassani and Paudrat (in Einstein 1998: 117, text to pl. 102) note it might have belonged to the Parisian painter Frank Burty Haviland at the time. However, the mask is neither listed in the catalogue of the Ader-Portier auction in Paris on June 22, 1936 (the auction included objects from the Haviland Collection), nor is there any other firm evidence to support this speculation. According to Laude (1968: 323 and 355, n. 119), the mask was in the collection of Pierre Peissi in Paris by 1968. This information is subject to dispute (Jean-Louis Paudrat, personal communication, January 23, 2008). After its last being mentioned in 1968, the whereabouts of the mask were unknown (ibid.: 117, text to pl. 102 lists the mask as "Collection actuelle inconnue"). It was recently rediscovered in the estate of a South American private collector. It appears the latter acquired the mask while visiting Paris as a student in the 1950s or 1960s, without knowing about the mask's history.

White faced masks were used among the Punu during important ceremonies of village life, most importantly during mourning. The masks were idealized portraits of deceased ancestors and coated with kaolin, white being the color of death. The mask performers stood on stilts, as they moved throughout the village. All ancestor masks were carved with an expression of serenity and beauty, as suitable for the deceased. The Einstein mask with its clear date of carving in the 19^th century is notable for its archaic style, as visible in the unusual coiffure with tresses following the jaw-line and merging underneath the chin.