Māori Hand Club (Wahika), New Zealand

Sir Jacob Epstein, London
Carlo Monzino, Castagnola
Sotheby's, New York, May 17, 2002, lot 356
Jan Krugier, Monaco, acquired at the above auction

The Arts Council of Great Britain, London, The Epstein Collection of Primitive and Exotic Sculpture, March 25 - April 23, 1960

William Buller Fagg, The Epstein Collection of Primitive and Exotic Sculpture, London, 1960, cat. 191
Ezio Bassani and Malcolm D. McLeod, Jacob Epstein Collector, Florence, 1989, p. 147, cat. 543

The British sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein was one of the greatest 20th century collectors of arts from primary cultures.  Some of the most famous and celebrated works of African and Oceanic Art passed through his hands in the mid-20th century, notably including the "Great Byeri" Fang head today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  Known as a great connoisseur, he had an extraordinary eye for sculptural quality as a collector and drew inspiration from the sculpture of ancient world cultures for his own work as an artist.  For further discussion see Bassani and McLeod 1989.