Ethnographica & Tribal Art

A silver and horn casket made for Queen Victoria but given to King Edward VII is offered by Mark Goodger Antiques at the Pavilions of Harrogate Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair from June 12-14.

As a dealer, collector and enthusiast of ethnographic art, Gordon Reece spent a lifetime travelling the globe in search of artefacts.

Kali shaped from local hardwoods, typically ironwood, were traditionally made by canoe-builders in the South Sea islands.

Alexander Anapolsky, co-owner of Akiba Galleries (28% buyer’s premium) in Dania Beach, Florida, described an Indonesian or Malaysian kris found in a New York City estate as a compelling object with great presence.

At the 23rd edition of the Tribal Art Fair Amsterdam (TAF), one highlight is this Angolan take on a Regency sabre-leg chair, carved c.1850 and priced at £2200 with Adam Prout.

Like the no’oanga stool sold by Woolley & Wallis, the Polynesian ceremonial spears or staffs known as to’o also originate from the Austral Islands of Rurutu.

The kumete whakairo (presentation bowl) shown here is one of three large and historically significant figure-supported bowls carved between 1865-85 by master carver Patoromu Tamatea.

One of the star lots at an auction of African and Oceanic works of art held by Zemanek-Münster (25% buyer’s premium) in Würzburg was a dance mask of the Telei people in the Buin district of Bougainville, one of the Solomon Islands.

The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on February 19 included this striking tribal mask from central Africa.

A Polynesian ladle surfaced in a Derbyshire saleroom, selling for nearly five-times its £500-700 estimate.

Cologne auction house Lempertz (25% buyer’s premium) opened its auction year with a sale of African and Oceanic works of art in Brussels.

A 19th century Native American wolf mask, once used in religious ceremonies on the Northwest coast, emerged from the obscurity of a £50-100 estimate to bring £14,000 at auction in Hertfordshire.

An 18th century Native American trade axe pipe linked to the great Shawnee chief and warrior Tecumseh (1768-1813) was the runaway performer when the collection of Ohio dealer and entrepreneur Bruce Knight was dispersed in the first days of the New Year.

Items from the Robert and Nancy Nooter collection of ethnographic art come for sale at Ararity Auctions in Lorton, Virginia, on October 1.

The Decorative Fair returns from October 3-8 for its third and final staging of the year.