Uli 
New Ireland 
19th century 

wood, pigments and shells
112.4cm

Provenance :
-Dr Albert Kornmajer, Herbertshöhe, New Britain, acquired in situ prior to 1905
-Badische Landesmuseum, Kalsruhe (inv. no. A 8368), acquired from the above
-Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim (inv. no. III Sü 6973), acquired from the above by exchange in 1935
-Arthur Speyer III, Berlin, acquired from the above in 1966, probably by exchange
-Harry A. Franklin, Beverly Hills, acquired from the above by 1970

Published :
-John Lunsford, Arts of Oceania, Dallas, 1970, n.p., cat. no. 94
-George R. Ellis, Oceanic Art: A Celebration of Form, San Diego, 2009, p. 47, cat. no. 26
-Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, Uli, 2019 (forthcoming)

Exhibited :
-Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Arts of Oceania, October 10 - November 29, 1970
-San Diego Museum of Art, Oceanic Art: A Celebration of Form, January 31, 2009 - January 3, 2010

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Canoe prow figure Nguzunguzu
New Georgia, Solomon Islands

Wood, mother of pearl shell, pigment, nut putty (Parinarium laurinum)
Early 19th century
18cm

Provenance:
John. J. Klejman, New York
Gerald Cramer, Geneva.

Mask, Juban/chubwan
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Wood
Late 18th century - early 19th century
26cm

Provenance:
Allen Wardell collection, New York
Transmitted by descent
Lance Entwistle, Paris/London
Private collection, Europe

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ancient spirit figure, aripa
Inyai-Ewa people
Korewori River, Papua New Guinea

Wood
114cm

18th century

Provenance:
Bruce Frank , New York

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ceremomial paddle  (rare shape/design)
Austral Island

Wood
170cm

Early 19th century

Provenance:
Leendert Van Lier, Amsterdam
Seymour Lazar, Palm Springs

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Figure Uli
New Ireland

Wood, pigments, shell, fiber
97cm

19th century

Provenance:
Possibly Gabriel von Max (1840-1915), Munich
Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim (inv. no. Sü 1678), acquired in 1917, possibly as part of the estate of the above
Maurice Bonnefoy, New York and Paris, acquired by 1966

Literature:
Alfred Bühler, Art océanien, Neuchâtel, 1970, p. 88, cat. no. 1141 (listed)
Philip C. Gifford, The Iconology of the Uli Figure of Central New Ireland, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1974, n.p., cat. no. 124
Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, Uli: Powerful Ancestors from the Pacific, Bornival, 2021, p. 324, cat. no. U10-11

Exhibited:
Musée d’ethnographie de Neuchâtel, Art océanien, June 27 – December 31, 1970

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

War club  U'u 
Marquesas island
Carved from ironwood (casuarina equisetifolia)

Late 18th century

144cm

Provenance:
ex James Hooper collection London

ex Rainer Werner "Jerry" Bock collection  Haiku, Hawaii

Published:

Phelps, ‘'Art and artifacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas, The James Hooper
Collection, 1976, Page 106, N°451.

"Polynesian Art at Auction 1965-1980" by Charles W. Mack 1982, page 180-181 , plate 76, No 6

 

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Mask, brag
Coastal Sepik River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

Wood, pigments, cane, natural fibre string, attached mouth bite stick, paper label attached on back
Late 19th century
56cm

Provenance:
- Dr. Edmund Muller (1898 - 1976), Beromunster, Switzerland. Muller accession number 3386
- Private collection, New York

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Shield
Ngala people, Upper Sepik River area, Papua New Guinea

Wood, pigments, cane
Late 19th century
178cm

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

 

War club  U'u 

Marquesas island
Carved from ironwood (casuarina equisetifolia)

Late 18th century

132cm

Provenance:

Alexander Kubetz (1946-2023), Munich, Germany

Exhibited:

Schwaz, Austria, Haus der Völker: "Südsee - Schätze der dunklen Inseln", 15. Mai 2005 - 18. September 2005

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ancient stone carved pre-contact ancestral hooked spirit figure, Nggwalndu
Abelam, Roma region, Eastern Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

Wood, Pigments
19th century
153cm

Provenance :
- Dr. George Kennedy Collection (1919- 1980), collected by him in Abelam area between 1962 and 1964.
- Christie's sale, Los Angeles, 1981, lot 78.
- Milton Arno Leof Collection.
- Collection Nadine Vinot-Postry, Cuernavaca.

 

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

 

Ancient spirit figure, aripa
Inyai-Ewa people
Middle Sepik, Korewori River, Papua New Guinea

Wood
104cm

18th century or earlier

Provenance:
Saul Brandman Foundation, Beverly Hills, Ca, USA

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ancient spirit figure, aripa
Inyai-Ewa peopleInyai-Ewa people
Middle Sepik, Korewori River, Papua New Guinea

Wood, pigment

18th century or earlier
81cm

Provenance:
Eric Coote collection, NSW

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Canoe prow ornament nguzunguzu 
New Georgia Island, Solomon Islands

Wood, mother of pearl shell, pigment, nut putty (Parinarium laurinum)
mid 19th century
13cm

Provenance:
collected by a Australian music teacher in the 1920s

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Massive presentation whales tooth cultural object, tabua

Fiji Islands

Sperm whale tooth, sennit suspension cord, two old labels

19th century

Tooth 24cm

Provenance:

-Mrs Mason,CollinsStMelbourne(written on old label)

-Private collection Melbourne

Bowl
San Cristobal Island, Solomon Islands

Wood, shell, nut putty (Parinarium laurinum) and pigment
late 19th century
69cm

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Headrest
Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Wood, remains of pigment
19th century
16cm

provenance:
collection Dr Edmund  Müller (1898-1976),  Beromünster, n° 3275
collection Frum, Toronto

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Neckrest
Tami island, Huon Gulf,  Papua New Guinea

Wood,  pigment

"56828" inscribed in red ink under the base, and recessed on the lintel
19th century
15cm

Provenance:
ex Lajos Biro (1856-1931) en 1898-99 (n° 499)

Néprajzi Muzeum, Budapest (inv. n° 56828)

Ex Marcia and John Friede, New York


Literature:
Bodrogi, Art in North-East New Guinea, 1961, p. 93, n° 70

 

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Roof spire
Kanak, New Caledonia

wood
18th to early 19th century
Height 157cm

provenance:
Ex collection of Leo and Karin Van Oosterom, Amsterdam

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Leopard figure
Benin, Nigeria, Africa

Wood with inlaid wood plugs to represent Leopards spots, Ivory inlaid teeth, bronze and wood eyes.
late 18th century to early 19th century
58cm

provenance:
Merton simpson collection
Gerald Dannenberg collection
Alan stone collection

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Shield
Astrolabe bay, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea

wood, pigment
early - mid 19th century
73cm

Provenance:
Collected in the 1920s by Frederick Pietz,
first American Lutheran missionary to Papua New Guinea in 1922
ex Warburg Theological Seminary museum , Iowa
Ex Michael Hamson, California

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

War Club
Tonga

Wood
18th century
90cm

Provenance:
James Hooper Collection

Published:
Phelps "Art and Artifacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas, The James Hooper Collection"
1976, No,H721

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Spirit Board
Urama area, Papuan Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Wood, pigment
Late 19th - early 20th century
152cm

collected and photographed at Eragoivari 1966

 

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Stilt Step, tapuvae
Marquesas Island

wood
early 19th century
36cm

Provenance:
Private collection, New York

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Shield
Lumi, West Sepik Province, Wapi village, Upper Sepik River, Papua New Guinea

Wood, Rattan, Pigment
collected before 1958
Late 19th century
106cm

Provenance:
Aaron Vogelnest, Sydney

Published:
Shields of Melanesia by Beran & Craig- page 41

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ceremonial ladle
Austral Islands

wood, old paper label
late 18th century
91cm

provenance:
Arthur D. Emil, New York
Succession d'Arthur D. Emil, New York

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ancient shield
Telefomin, PNG

Wood, pigments, arrow heads and remains of cane strap handle
Late 19th century
156cm

Provenance:
-Collected by missionary Brian Beaver for the Baptist Mission in the mid to late 1960s
-Philip Goldman, London
-Franco Ignazio Castelli, Bergamo

Exhibited:
-London, 1970.
-Milan, 1971.
Bergamo, 1974

Phographed:
Barry Craig in 1969 at the Baptist Mission, Telefomin

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Kongo-Vili zoomorphic power figure
Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa

Wood, nails, knife blades and metal pieces
Early 20th centurty
Length 67.3cm

Provenance :
Henri Kamer and Alan Brandt, Paris and New York (invoice no. "646565", described as "Animal nail fetish in wood with nail and blade inserts.
Archaic and rare example. Bakongo tribe. Western Congo")
Allan Stone, New York, acquired from the above on February 26, 1965

Exhibited:
The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, Power Incarnate: Allan Stone's Collection of Sculpture from the Congo, May 14 - September 4, 2011

Literature:
Kevin D. Dumouchelle, Power Incarnate: Allan Stone's Collection of Sculpture from the Congo, Greenwich, Connecticut, 2011, p. 31, cat. 7

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Malangan Figure
New Ireland

Wood, pigments, shell and vegetable fiber
Circa 1900

71cm

Provenance:
Private Collection, Tryon, North Carolina

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Platter
Northwestern Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu

Wood
19th century or earlier
85cm

Provenance:
Private collection, France

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Axe
East Sepik Province, PNG

Wood, cane , pigments

Mid 19th century
54cm x 33cm

Provenance:
W.D.Webster, London, Bicester
Augustus H. Lane Pitt Rivers, Farnham, Dorset, June 8th 1898
Sheila Pitt Rivers, Farnham, Dorset

Illustrated:
Pitt Rivers Catalog, June 8th 1898

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Scare devil' female figure (Kareau or henta-koi)
Nicobar Islands
Bay of Bengal

Wood, pigments, shell
Late 19th -early 20th century
64cm

Provenance:
Private collection, UK

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Scare devil' male figure (Kareau or henta-koi)
Nicobar Islands
Bay of Bengal

Wood, pigments, shell. cloth
Late 19th -early 20th century
64.5cm

Provenance:
Private collection, UK

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Shield
Ramu River, Papua New Guinea

Wood
late 19th -early 20th century
132cm

Provenance:
Todd Barlin, Sydney

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ceremonial adze
Cook Islands, Mangaia Island

Wood, stone, sennit
19th century
86cm

Preserved Fish Deuel, Cambridge, New York (1783-1861)
Private Collection, New York

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Drum

Kamoro people

Mimika area, West Papua, Irian Jaya, Indonesia

Wood

19th century

76cm

Provenance:

James Hooper Collection, Arundel, Engalnd , aquired in Raynor, Essex in 1948

Martin & Fait-Dorian Wright, New York

Published: 

J.T.Hooper and C. A. Burland, The Art of Primitive Peoples, London, 1953, p. 131, pl. 45

Steven Phelps, Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas:

the James Hooper Collection, London, 1976, p. 230, pl. 125, cat. no. 993

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ceremonial Adze
Boiken, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

Stone blade, wood, cane, pigment
circa 1900-1920
68cm

Provenance:
Michael Hamson, California
Todd Barlin, Sydney

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Bowl
Tongoa Island, Vanuatu

Wood
Mid 19th century
88cm

Provenance:
Private collection South Australia

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Parrying shield/club Roromaraugi
Makira, San Crisobal, Solomon Islands

Wood
19th century
124cm

Provenance:
Private collection, Australia

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

War club, Gata
Fiji Islands

Wood
19th century
113cm

Provenance:
Private collection, Australia

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Ladle
Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, PNG

wood, coconut, natural resin, pigments

Late 19th century
60cm

Inquiries contact Alex Philips

Bowl
Society Islands, Polynesia

Wood, natural native fiber repairs
Early 19th century
46cm

Provenance:
Private collection, New Zealand

 

Inquiries contact Alex Philips