Property from a Princely Collection
Wongo, Lele, or Kuba Anthropomorphic Vessel, Kuba Kingdom, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Auction Closed
June 18, 05:01 PM GMT
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Princely Collection
Wongo, Lele, or Kuba Anthropomorphic Vessel, Kuba Kingdom, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Wood, patina with remnants of camwood powder and palm oil
Height: 8 ½ in (21.5 cm)
The underside of the proper right foot with a somewhat worn French customs label (presumed to be from 1935); the underside of the proper left foot inscribed in somewhat faint black ink: “04065434”, and with a paper label inscribed in black ink: “I3 [/] 1593CI [/] 402”.
Charles Ratton, Paris (inv. no. V) acquired before April 12, 1929
Pierre Matisse, New York (inv. no. C. 436) acquired on consignment from the above before March 30, 1935
Frank Crowninshield, New York, acquired before January 4, 1936, presumably from the above, and with the assistance of John D. Graham, New York
Jacques Seligmann, New York, acquired on consignment from the above by January 4, 1936
Julius Carlebach, New York
Albert Gallatin, New York, acquired from the above, probably in the late 1940s
Oliver Cobb, Seattle, acquired by descent from the above
Sotheby’s, Paris, June 12, 2012, lot 17, consigned by the above
Acquired at the above auction by the present owner
Chez Louis Carré, Villa Guibert, Paris, Sculptures et objets. Afrique noire - Amérique ancienne - Mélanésie - Polynésie, July 5 - 20, 1933
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, African Sculptures from the Ratton Collection, March 30 - April 20, 1935
Jacques Seligmann Gallery, New York, Exhibition of Sculptures of Old African Civilizations, January 4 - January 22, 1936
The Brooklyn Museum, New York, African Negro Art from the Collection of Frank Crowninshield, March 20 - April 25, 1937
Adolphe Basler, L’Art chez les peuples primitifs, Paris, 1929, n.p., pl. 46a (illustrated)
Pierre Matisse, ed., African Sculptures from the Ratton Collection [exhibition checklist], New York, 1935, n.p., probably cat. no. 31 (listed)
[Unsigned], “African Art Captures New York”, Vanity Fair, Vol. 44, No. 4, June, 1935, p. 38 (illustrated)
John D. Graham, ed., Exhibition of Sculptures of Old African Civilizations, New York, 1936, p. 13, cat. no. 84 (listed)
Herbert J. Spinden, African Negro Art from the Collection of Frank Crowninshield, New York, 1937, n.p., cat. no. 43 (listed)
Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, African Art in American Collections: Survey, 1989, Washington, D.C., 1989, p. 431, cat. no. 1110 (illustrated)
Maureen Murphy, De l’imaginaire au musée. Les arts d’Afrique à Paris et à New York (1931-2006), Dijon, 2009, p. 156, fig. 26 (archival photograph of the 1933 exhibition chez Louis Carré)
Philippe Dagen and Maureen Murphy, eds., Charles Ratton. L’invention des arts « primitifs », Paris, 2013, p. 83, fig. 54 (archival photograph of the 1933 exhibition chez Louis Carré)