Further details
This is an object of mysterious, delicate beauty and an enigmatic charm of considerable age. The dating of this object to pre-19th century is based on the results of C-14 testing and the associated probability of such a timeframe. As Friede notes, 'There are notches carved on the shaft. The use of the object is unknown, but it may have serves as a tally of events in warfare. Although it has often been suggested to have been part of a headrest, it does not appear so to me. The smaller head may be female and the larger, male. The latter head has an extension, perhaps for the attachment of a feather headdress' (op. cit.). The noses and ears of each of the small heads are pierced suggesting it had highly elaborate decoration appropriate to a ritual object possibly used to communicate matters of such significant importance as those of warfare.
Christie's is delighted to have the opportunity to offer for sale this jewel-like selection of monumental miniature masterpieces from the esteemed Jolika Collection at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. We have entitled this selection - les Micromgas - in a nod to the philosophical tale by Voltaire, the exquisite works of art reveal the bold virtuosity of New Guinea artists distilled into enchanting forms which fit in the palm of one's hand.
The Jolika Collection is housed since 2005 at the deYoung Museum of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in a vast museum space. It represents one of the single greatest collecting achievements in the world, brilliantly cultivated over four decades by Marcia and John Friede. Named Jolika by the latters, this exceptional collection, which comprises nearly 400 works, is acknowledged to be the most important in both quality and depth.
Christie's is privileged to have been chosen to sell a selection of these masterworks. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Fine Arts Museums acquisition fund. It is a rare opportunity for works of such exceptional artistic power and distinguished provenance to come to market. From my years as Deputy General Administrator at the Louvre Museum, I appreciate the care and long-lasting endeavor which the Museum has placed upon this collection. Christie's is privileged to be associated with this important effort, and we honor the Museum's unique and critical role in preserving New Guinea's artistic legacy in perpetuity.
By Aline Sylla-Walbaum
Micromégas : Masterpiece Miniatures from the Jolika Collection at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
By Pierre Amrouche
The question of dimensions and proportions of an object or in space - relative to the universe and proportionately - has often called out even the greatest luminaries. Blaise Pascal, in the 18th century, wrote a treatise about the infinitely small and the infinitely large, with as much interest in one as the other; during the following century, Voltaire, while staying with Frdric de Prusse in Berlin, wrote a philosophical tale: Micromégas, to which we owe the name here, an oxymora compound with Greek roots: micros: small, and mégas: large. This tale is an invitation to travel along with these instructions: be wary of appearances. This association of opposite terms expresses the relativity of proportions, in the nature of men and their creations. Voltaire, a man of Enlightenment, knew how to discern the greatness of humanity in the most modest spirit, and, likewise, in those most favored.
It is in this century that we are awakened to the passion for objects called 'objets de Vertu', beloved to collectors of that time and to those today. They are located halfway between the skilled masterpiece and the miniature, the great works replicate the perfection achieved in both proportions and skill as the originals of a different scale. There is also the aspect to these objects which relates them to "fetish" objects, or a sort of talisman that one chooses to accompany themselves in everyday life, as a protector or companion: medal, charm, etc
The tribal art world isn't exempt from this type of object; similar to objects of virtue, they have all the same qualities as any great work, in both skill and transcendence of proportions. For Africa, we naturally think about the small masks called "passport masks", so common in western Ivory Coast and which are miniature mask replicas. In New Guinea, likewise - and this selection of nine miniature objects confirms it - the process is identical - small objects have as much qualities as their taller counterparts; when pictured, they don't differ at all. The refinement of these objects suggests that they were also the privilege of high-class men and women to whom, beyond their primary function, they conferred an additional social or religious status, and, most certainly, the pleasure to possess something unique. To each culture and to each age its "objects of virtue", here in gold and enamel, there carved in wood, fiber, bone and nacre, depending upon the territory.
Some collectors have made it their specialty to seek the miniature objects, which, proportionately, are as important as their oversized counterparts. Thus the French amateur Emile Bouchard mastered this realm, especially dedicated to Oceania. And thus the English painter Josef Herman (Christie's, Amsterdam, 12th December, 2000) was a master in this field and the first widely recognized for this special passion. Hermione Waterfield quotes him in her introduction to the auction catalogue regarding the 13 cm. (5 in.) tall acephalous Dogon figure (lot n55): "Look at the monumental qualities of this piece. From a photograph you could never tell its size - it fits such a space - it is incredible!".
Giacometti created sculptures which lead us to the same conclusion, whatever they measure, be it 3 centimeters or 3 meters. From 1937, he worked on the self-imposed challenge of the optical image and its illusion, stating in an interview: "I had a friend, and the sculpture that I wanted to realize with this woman was indeed the precise vision that I had had when I had seen her at a certain distance." (Quoted by Yves Bonnefoy, Alberto Giacometti, Biographie d'une oeuvre, Paris, 1991, p.272). These tiny pieces from the 1937's are identical, in their principle, to subsequent sculptures of "marching men": seen closely they always appear as distant, eternal silhouettes. The greatness of the work, in all its varied proportions, lies in the inventive quality and the performance.
Following the examples of their predecessors, scientists and philosophers, Blaise Pascal and Voltaire, artists and collectors, Alberto Giacometti and Josef Herman, to only name a few. John Friede, with his infallible eye, knew how to collect New Guinea objects without cowering to appearances, monumental or miniature, or even both, like Micromégas - the nine offered object, formerly in his collection, confirm the excellence of his choices, each of them to be elevated tenfold, until infinity, with no fear of damage to their intrinsic qualities.
Sale room notice
La provenance exacte de ce lot est:
Collection Philip Goldman (1922-2012), Londres
Collection Ron Nasser, New York
Collection Alain Schoffel, Tours
Champlain et al., Paris, 23 juin 1984, lot 33
Marcia et John Friede, New York
Collection Jolika, Fine Arts Museums de San Francisco, deYoung Museum, inv.no.L05.1.219, Don de Marcia et John Friede (acquis en partie avec les fonds de la Evelyn A.J. Hall Charitable Trust)
The correct provenance of this lot is:
Collection Philip Goldman (1922-2012), London
Collection Ron Nasser, New York
Collection Alain Schoffel, Tours
Champlain et al., Paris, 23 June 1984, lot 33
Marcia and John Friede, New York
Jolika Collection, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, deYoung Museum, inv.no.L05.1.219, Gift of Marcia and John Friede (purchased in part with funds from the Evelyn A.J. Hall Charitable Trust)
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