Coastal Sepik Ancestral Spirit Figure - Collection Vérité, Hôtel Drouot, lot 279
Dream Piece #26
Coastal Sepik Ancestral Spirit Figure
Collection Vérité
17 June 2006, lot 279
$407,092
While many of us are still gathering our wits after having them blown away by the Barbier Mueller Auction a few months ago; it’s important to remember the previous blockbuster auction—the Vérité sale at Hôtel Drouot in June of 2006—that was packed with masterpieces from the private family collection of gallerists Pierre and his son Claude Vérité assembled starting in the fecund Parisian art scene of the late 1920s.
One of which was this magnificent Coastal Sepik figure that once stood guard side by side other masterpieces along a high shelf in the art dealer Pierre Loeb’s apartment in the late 1920s. See the wonderful photo from 1929 with Pierre’s wife Silvia seated below.
After the last few Polynesian dream pieces I’ve discussed it is nice to be back in the comfort of New Guinea to revel in the intensity of this early Sepik figure with a raw emotive aesthetic that brings heat to my belly. Notice how the smooth surface of the face seems stretched tight trying to contain the molten spiritual fire ready to bust out and the tiny pinpoint shell eyes focused and ready to direct that power.
The large carefully composed head sits low and away from the torso that appears strong but carved with far less attention. I love how the hands are at the hips but intentionally elevated away from it. The buttocks, thighs and calves regain the smooth carved perfection of the face. While upright and standing on its toes, the figure has the relaxed poise of a professional boxer about to step into the ring, his tiny mouth taking in short breaths.
All of which would be appropriate as such large Coastal Sepik figures, called “kandimbong,” were tasked with ensuring success in hunting, warfare and in general to look after and protected their human charges throughout their lives. The spirit manifested in the sculpture would have a personal name and a known, often heroic, history. There are important signs the figure was a living, breathing member of the community. The top knot above the head once had a cone of human hair attached like that worn by all initiated men. The ears are pierced twice, the septum deeply dug out as well as a hole in the nostril which would have had a shell, bone or insect barb through it. The perforated flange circling the face would also have had a cane and hair beard confirming its mature status while the scarifications on the shoulders and chest announced its clan affiliation.
Of course, as with all such kandimbong figures it was originally covered in a magical red pigment that imparted heat, energy and efficacy to the spirit. You can see patches of this paint under the thick brown patina.
Its immense spiritual power is matched by its aesthetic qualities and the excellent Vérité provenance is crowned by its earlier Pierre Loeb history and of course the iconic 1929 photo of its place in the lineup above Silvia Loeb in the family apartment. That the figure fetched 322,000 Euros ($407,092) seems reasonable but was a record price for a Sepik sculpture at the time.
If you have the catalog, I recommend reading Pierre Amrouche’s introductory essay. It is excellent. I love this:
“We must remember that each era has its odd habits: ours is wanting everything to be listed and documented: we want to understand everything and seek out the whys and the wherefores. This was not always the case. There was an era—that of the Vérités—when all that counted was the object: it was beautiful or not, good or not good. Period!”
Back in 2006 I was on the phone bidding, not on this magnificent Sepik figure that seemed surely out of my reach, but on the superb Abelam ceremonial house lintel, lot 318, that was of an antiquity and quality I had hoped might be less obvious and unappreciated—it was not, selling for over $71,000 to John Friede who, I was told, immediately gifted it to the Quai Branly Museum--if my memory is correct.
