From private and previously unseen collections

It is one of the most edifying moments to track down artifacts that are still completely in their original condition, completely untouched by the European zeitgeist, as if they had just been unpacked from their suitcase after almost 100 years. Its significance lies precisely in the fact that the original character does not change - a peculiarity that undoubtedly comes closest to the actual essence of collecting. And it‘s even more exciting when they‘re also elaborately and artistically crafted.

All of this applies to the artistic masterworks from the South Seas and Oceania. Among them a small collection with exhibits from the 19th century [lots 27-51]. All that is known about their collector, Hellmut Patzer, is that he comes from Silesia (Poland) and brought the pieces to Europe on trips to Australia and the South Seas in the first half of the 20th century.

Malagan figures from New Ireland are among the most artistic sculptures in Oceania. Works that - like Pacific art in general - are highly valued by collectors and artists alike because of their incredibly imaginative creativity.

The Collection of Alexander Kubetz, Munich (1946-2023) [lots 56-97] has three superb carvings of these memorial figures for the dead, and lot 59 is a former museum piece that was sold in 1917 by the German Colonial Museum Berlin-Moabit (1899 - 1915) to the Linden Museum Stuttgart.

Alexander Kubetz‘s enthusiasm for art and his beginnings for collecting lie in Papua New Guinea and the South Sea Islands. He only came to the art of Africa, the masks and figures, especially the artistic shields and weapons, many years later through his long-standing friendship with Manfred A. Zirngibl.

Pieces from his collection were shown in exhibitions such as „Erde und Erz - 2500 Jahre afrikanische Kunst aus Terrakotta und Metall“ (“Earth and Ore - 2500 years of African Art in Terracotta and Metal”) (1998) and several times in various exhibitions at the Haus der Völker in Schwaz/Tirol (1996, 2006/2007 and 2009).

After 2017, it is a pleasure for us to be able to auction the second part of the Africa collection of Francfort artist Bernhard Jäger (Lots 106-173). More about his collection, see auction catalogue 86, 2017.

For him as an artist, the works of Africa are self-assurance that “the path I follow in my work is right.”

More recognition for African art is not possible.

With lots 174 -190 we present a small collection of 17 works, primarily masks from Mali, Liberia, Ivory Coast and the Congo, belonging to the estate of Justin Barthels (1934-2021), art historian, collector and dealer from Maastricht, Netherlands.

Charles Courtin (d. 1954, Antwerp, Belgium) stayed in the Congo from 1904 to 1908. During this period, he created etchings that primarily document the elaborate scarification and hairstyles of the local population. A small Congo collection of miniature works as well as weapons and spears date from this period [lots 311-317].

From the mid-1970s, Dietrich von Reininghaus, Munich (1918-1993)regularly undertook extensive trips to the Sahara, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Algeria, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Sudan and Chad. He developed a strong passion for collecting the art objects of the local culture. He paid the greatest attention to original pieces of jewellery that were, if possible, also worn.

His collection includes more than 500 jewellery objects from the Berber peoples and Tuareg. The collection contains some outstanding Moroccan and Algerian objects that can hardly be found in this quality today. According to the documentation, a significant part of the Tuareg jewellery was acquired through Gerhard Göttler. Göttler, travel writer, Tuareg connoisseur and collector himself, was the lender and author of the catalogue text for the exhibition “Magische Ornamente, Silberschmuck der Tuareg”, 2003 in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich. This catalogue also serves as a reference to the von Reininghaus objects. A study of this catalogue shows that the works on offer consistently corresponds to the same high quality level of the exhibition.

The Reininghaus Tuareg Collection can be described as „museum quality“ in the full sense of the word, when one takes into consideration the scope, diversity and relevance of the collection objects for the material culture of an ethnic group. [Wofgang Raffesberg, author and expert]