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€198,000
Congolese reliquary
African art created a surprise at this Dijon sale on 9 February (Hôtel des ventes
Victor Hugo), with three Teke reliquaries collected in the 20th century
between the wars, and religiously preserved in the same family. Now on the
market for the first time, they smashed their estimates. The fetish here,
announced at around €5,000, aroused the fervour of museums, collectors and
the international trade alike. This is a protective figure representing a Bateke
warrior, with a hollowed-out abdomen designed to hold magical protection
known as "bonga", containing the powers conferred on the fetish by the
ancestors. It protects against illness and misfortune, and favours hunting,
trade and exchanges between ethnic groups. The statuette, similar to a model
now in the Musée du Quai Branly, emanates a remarkably powerful force
enhanced by the volume of the head and the full beard. With assets like this,
the reliquary inspired a lively battle between the auction room and several
telephone bidders. It was finally knocked down for €198,000 to a French buyer,
who triumphed over the international trade. Chantal Humbert
AUCTION RESULTS THE MAGAZINE
€168,750
A Saint-Aubin from the former
Goncourt brothers' collection
Knocked down for €168,750 on 6 February at Drouot
(Thierry Desbenoit & Associés), this 1764 pen and
wash drawing by Augustin de Saint-Aubin featured
in the dispersion of the celebrated Goncourt
brothers' collection on 17 February 1897. Described
as a self-portrait of the draughtsman, it fetched
FF15,100 at the time (€56,560 at today's value), and
Saint-Aubin was one of the artists who aroused the
fiercest bidding. All in all, fourteen of his drawings
were on offer during the three-day sale, which
totalled FF980,924 (around €3,674,200 today).
Edmond de Goncourt's wish was that "all the things
of art that have been the joy of my life should not be
relegated to the cold tomb of a museum and the
mindless gaze of indifferent passers-by"…
A hundred and sixteen years on, his Saint-Aubin
continues to rouse passions! Sylvain Alliod
N° 23 I GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
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