A SUPERB AND IMPORTANT BAMANA FEMALE FIGURE, Mali

Patrick Henry Bruce, Versailles, by 1935
Chaim and Renee Gross, New York, acquired in 1939

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, African Negro Art, March 9 - May 19, 1935
The Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, The African Image: A New Selection of Tribal Art, February 1 - 22, 1959
Museum of Primitive Art, New York, Bambara Sculpture from Western Sudan, February 17 - May 8, 1960
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., African Sculpture, January 29 - March 1, 1970 (additional venues: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City: March 21 - April 26, 1970; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, May 20 - June 21, 1970)
Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., The Sculptor's Eye: The African Art Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Chaim Gross, 1976 (additional venues: Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, November 5, 1976 - January 2, 1977; Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, March 27 - May 1, 1977; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, May 17 - July 17, 1977)
Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., A Human Ideal in African Art, April 29 - June 15, 1986 (additional venue: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 20, 1986 - March 1, 1987)

James J. Sweeney (ed.), African Negro Art, New York, 1935, p. 32, cat. no. 18 (not illustrated)
Eliot Elisofon and William Fagg, The Sculpture of Africa, London, 1958, p. 41, fig. 25
Margaret Plass, The African Image: A New Selection of Tribal Art, Toledo, 1959, p. 10, cat. 16
Robert Goldwater, Bambara Sculpture from Western Sudan, New York, 1960, pl. 85
Warren M. Robbins, African Art in American Collections, New York, 1966, p. 42, fig. 2
Arnold Rubin, The Sculptor's Eye, Washington, D.C., 1976, p. 23, cat. 14a
Michael Kan, African Sculpture/The Brooklyn Museum: 31 Masterpieces of African Sculpture, Brooklyn, 1970, p. 44, cat. 33
Kate Ezra, A Human Ideal in African Art, Washington, D.C., 1986, p. 20, cat. 21

Good condition overall for an object of this age; both legs eroded below the knees as seen on photographs, proper right arm broken below the elbow as seen on photographs; age cracks through proper left side of head behind ear, front chest and abdomen as seen on photographs; proper left ear chipped; nicks and scratches, wear and tear throughout with areas of patina abrasion revealing the light wood underneath especially on reverse of figure; fine aged medium brown patina.
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.

Patrick Henry Bruce (1881-1936) was an American painter known for his involvement in the early period of collecting African art. According to Hughes (1979), the artist was the "a son of Virginian gentlefolk, who studied under Chase and then Henri at the New York School of Art, reached Paris in 1904, and entered the Stein circle, attending Matisse's studio classes. [...] His early work, like Still Life (With Tapestry), 1912, became an ambitious effort to combine the faceted structure of Cézanne with the luminous, space-forming color of Matisse. From 1917 on he produced a remarkable series of geometric, abstracted still-lifes. [His paintings] were, however, largely ignored" during his lifetime. In 1979, Bruce's paintings were the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.