À propos du lot
n° 139
Titre : An Important Punu Mask, Gabon
Dimensions : measurements note height 11 1/4 in. 26.8cm Provenance : Possibly Frank Burty Haviland (1880-1950), ParisPierre Peissi, ParisSouth American Private Collection, by the 1960sLiterature : Carl Einstein, Negerplastik, Leipzig, 1915, pl. 102Notes : PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTIONThis beautiful Punu mask was published in 1915 by the German poet and art critic Carl Einstein (1885-1940) in his influential book Negerplastik. A friend of the artists Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, as well as of the prominent modern art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (for Einstein's correspondence with the latter see Dimanche 1993: passim), Einstein had discovered African and Oceanic art during his studies in Berlin (1904-1907) in the rooms of the Museum für Völkerkunde (today: Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz). Negerplastik is credited as being the first monograph presenting African and Oceanic sculptures as art and highlighting its inspirational relationship to Cubism. It was widely read by the European avant-garde and several early 20υth century artists are known to have owned a copy, including Gris, Braque, Picasso and Moore, to name just a few. We do not know with certainty who owned this mask at the time it was published in Negerplastik. Bassani and Paudrat (in Einstein 1998: 117, text to pl. 102) note it might have belonged to the Parisian painter Frank Burty Haviland at the time. However, the mask is neither listed in the catalogue of the Ader-Portier auction in Paris on June 22, 1936 (the auction included objects from the Haviland Collection), nor is there any other firm evidence to support this speculation. According to Laude (1968: 323 and 355, n. 119), the mask was in the collection of Pierre Peissi in Paris by 1968. This information is subject to dispute (Jean-Louis Paudrat, personal communication, January 23, 2008). After its last being mentioned in 1968, the whereabouts of the mask were unknown (ibid.: 117, text to pl. 102 lists the mask as Collection actuelle inconnue). It was recently rediscovered in the estate of a South American private collector. It appears the latter acquired the mask while visiting Paris as a student in the 1950s or 1960s, without knowing about the mask's history. White faced masks were used among the Punu during important ceremonies of village life, most importantly during mourning. The masks were idealized portraits of deceased ancestors and coated with kaolin, white being the color of death. The mask performers stood on stilts, as they moved throughout the village. All ancestor masks were carved with an expression of serenity and beauty, as suitable for the deceased. The Einstein mask with its clear date of carving in the 19υth century is notable for its archaic style, as visible in the unusual coiffure with tresses following the jaw-line and merging underneath the chin.Sotheby's, Salle de vente
, New York, US
🔓Accès libre sans carte bancaire.
Titre de la vente : African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art
Date de la vente : 16/05/2008
🔓Accès libre sans carte bancaire.
Référence de l'enchère
: Live Sale
