An Important Chokwe Ivory whistle, Democratic Republic of the Congo

made of hippopotamus (hippopotamus amphibius) tooth.

Dr. and Mrs. Hilbert DeLawter, Michigan, by 1967
Lee Bronson, Los Angeles, acquired from the above in the early 1970s
Sotheby's, Paris, June 6, 2005, lot 33
Robert T. Wall Family, Telluride, acquired at the above auction

Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, African Sculpture from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Hilbert H. DeLawter, April 9 - May 7, 1967
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, A Survey of Zairian Art: The Bronson Collection, April 23 - June 4, 1978 (other venues: Museum of African Art, Washington D.C., July 25 - September 25, 1978; Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, November 14, 1978 - January 21, 1979)
The Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, Elephant: The Animal and its Ivory in African Culture, October 13, 1993 – February 27, 1994
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, Chokwe!, November 1, 1998 – January 3, 1999 (additional venues: Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, June 13 – September 5, 1999; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, October 24, 1999 – January 16, 2000

Cranbrook Academy of Art (ed.), African Sculpture from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Hilbert H. DeLawter, Bloomfield Hills, 1967, cat. 43
Joseph Cornet, A Survey of Zairian Art: The Bronson Collection, Raleigh, 1978, p. 155, cat. 84
Warren Robbins and Nancy Nooter, African Art in American Collections, Washington/London, 1989, p. 551, fig. 1502
Dorian Ross (ed.), Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture, Los Angeles, 1992, p. 51, cat. 1-51
Manuel Jordan, Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related People, Munich/London/New York, 1998, unpaginated, cat. 126

Good condition overall; age crack through proper right side of front, as seen on photographs; exceptionally fine lustrous patina with traces of red pigment on the front of the head; the surface has not been polished by a westerner but is original, and identical to the example in the Baltimore museum.
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.

An almost identical whistle by the same hand is preserved in the Baltimore Museum of Art (accession no. '54.145.78', gift of Alan Wurtzberger). Discussing the latter, Jordan (1998: text to cat. 125) notes: "This ivory whistle is carved to represent an ancestral character with a tall, pointed, V-shaped coiffure or headdress. The downcast eyes and highly stylized facial details are also found on some forms of Pende art, and this type of coiffure also appears on some Holo figures. Among the Chokwe, this type of ancestral representation is most common on figurative posts for mahamba ancestral veneration. A related figurative pendent in the collection of the Berlin Museum für Völkerkunde was collected by Hermann Baumann among the Chokwe in the 1930s."