Asmat Shield, Unir (Lorenz) River, Irian Jaya

Paula and Luisa Müller-Vanisterbeck, Brussels
Marcia and John Friede, New York, acquired from the above

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, September 19, 1984 - January 15, 1985
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, October 15, 2005 - February 14, 2010

William Rubin (ed.), "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, 1984, p. 63
John A. Friede et al. (ed.), New Guinea Art. Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, San Francisco, 2005, pp. 549 (vol. 1) and 175 (vol. 2), cat. 521

Very good condition overall for an object of this age and rarity; heavily worn rim with nicks and scratches wear and tear throughout as seen on photographs, two vertical age cracks on bottom and minor crack on proper right side, top of handle on reverse cracked; on the front surface marks from more than a dozen arrows, some of them resulting in holes with several arrowheads remaining in place, attesting to the shields long use in battle; metal ring inserted into back for mounting; exceptionally fine aged patina with orange pigment and lime.
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.

In the introductory chapter to the catalog of his landmark exhibition "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, William Rubin discusses the offered lot in the context of Picasso's and Klee's "convention to fuse two views of a head [or figure] in a single image (usually a profile within a front view) [...]. The dual functioning of a sign, as in the Picasso and Klee pictures, is a possibility that did not escape tribal artists, and the patterning on the Asmat shield we reproduce (opposite) shows a comparable 'wit' and economy. The little zigzag form with 'hand' terminals that covers this shield is a sign for two joined arms. But the portion of the same sign at the top of the shield has a dual role. As a result of its enclosure at once under a decorative 'helmet' and inside the heavy contour that demarcates a face, it is made to read quite clearly as a nose and upper lip of an ancestor figure's head - in which new context its terminal 'hand' serves rather to signify a 'mouth'. [...] The widespread resistance in the literature to analyzing tribal works in these aesthetic (as opposed to typological and statistical) terms is perhaps less the result of common assumptions that such compositional sophistication is alien to Primitive art than it is of an almost exclusive focus upon anthropological and iconographic problems on the part of those most involved with this art"(1984: 60-61).