Ogling the Auctions: Part Three

A selection — emphasis on selection — of Allan Stone's collection goes on sale at Christie's tonight, and while it ushers in a week of post-war and contemporary auctions, the Stone sale features a breadth of genres, true to the taste of the art dealer and prolific collector. Among the de Koonings, Chamberlains, and Thiebauds are pieces of tribal art. The market for these works from Africa and Oceania is at the highest point it has ever been, according to Alan Steele, a tribal art dealer in New York. The downside of the upswing? It's harder to find great pieces, and they are more expensive. "There's a real hunger in the market for good material, says James Willis, a San Francisco-based tribal art dealer and collector. Here, some star lots:

A Magnificent Urhobo Male Figure
Nigeria
circa 1875
Estimate: $300,000 - $500,000
"[This is] the best Urhobo male in the world," says Willis. It has been identified as Emerititiri, the half-brother of Owedjebor, the founder of the town of Ehwerhe from which the object comes. A similar figure fetched $1.6 million at a Paris auction last year, according to Willis, who says that one doesn't compare to Stone's Urhobo figure being offered tonight.

A Fine Songye Power Figure
Democratic Republic of Congo
Estimate: $100,000 - $150,000
"Allan had a passion specifically for things that did reflect the sort of magical fetish sides of African art...especially power figures from the Songye tribe," says Steele. "He ended up being the collector who owned the most Songye power figures in the world." However, this isn't the best example from Stone's Songye collection — he sold one of those to a U.S. collector just before his death last December — Steele counts it as a highlight of the tribal pieces that will go on the block this evening. (Steele was referring to a Fine Kongo Mirror Fetish Figure as a highlight of the offerings.)

A Fine Sepik River Male Figure
East Sepik Province, New Guinea
Estimate: $120,000 - $180,000
Steele counts this, too, as one of the best examples of tribal art being offered in the sale, but says that the estimate might better apply to an earlier piece. Any markup is likely due to its association with the Stone provenance.