DREAM PIECE #19 - Austral Island Stool Dream Piece #19 Austral Island StoolChristie’s London8 December 1992, Lot 109 I have to admit initially thinking this piece was just a fantastic Cook Island stool, not realizing it was in fact a much, much rarer type from the Austral Islands. There is a huge difference as we shall see. I wanted to discuss this stool for its subtle but undeniable elegance—especially as it compares to its still beautiful but more common brethren from the Cook Islands. Cook Island stools have similar but shorter legs that flare out to flat oval feet. The rectangular top is low to the ground and bow gracefully up creating the seat. Most examples are quite lovely with pleasing contours and a glossy surface patina that combine to create handsome pieces of South Pacific art. However, viewed side by side with the taller and more regal Austral Island stool, the Cook Island stool looks like a sturdy pack horse standing next to a tall thoroughbred. The Austral version has longer legs whose outer sides curve gently to fuse perfectly with the upward sweep of the seat. The bow of the seat is much deeper and the ends have a complex construction that both flare up and curve inwards to the center. A friend who had both the opportunity and courage to ease his backside down onto one of these rare masterpieces noted that the stool gently but firmly gripped his frame and rooted it in place such that he felt directly connected to the earth. He described it as transcendent experience that was hard to explain but thought the word fluid best described the way the incredible curves of an Austral Island stool ebbed and flowed to envelope the body. Cook Island Stool, Christie’s London 8 December 1992, lot 108 sold for 4,400 UK Pounds This reminds us of two important characteristics of Oceanic art. The first is that these objects we love so much were not meant to be contemplated purely as aesthetic objects. They were meant to be used, to be held and interacted with actively and physically. The tactile aspect of Oceanic art cannot be ignored, the heft of a Polynesian club, the momentum felt as it’s swung, the grip of a drum, its tone as the tympanum is beat are integral to its appreciation. The second characteristic is an economic truism of art--that subtle differences in form, elegance and quality often equate to massive differences in value. Thirty-one years ago, when this Austral Island stool sold it went for 104,500 UK pounds—which today equates to $343,250. In that same Christie’s London 1992 sale, the lot prior was the fine Cook Island stool pictured above—one that most serious collectors would be proud to own. It sold for 4,400 UK pounds ($11,660 today)—roughly one thirtieth of the Austral Island example. This disparity in price between something very good and a masterpiece has only increased in the last three decades. The last Austral Island stool to hit the market was a shockingly beautiful example with an important provenance that sold at Sotheby’s Paris in June of 2016 for $1,227,183. These days a perfectly fine Cook Island stool can be readily had for less than $10,000. Is there a lesson here? Are Cook Island stools undervalued? Or maybe the next time an Austral Island stool comes up at auction should you sell your house, drain your retirement account and prepare to raise your paddle? Yes to both.
