Prince Maya

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

On September 12, in a sale to be held at Drouot Montaigne (Paris) jointly with two other companies, Pierre Bergé et Associés presents a very important piece, at number 6.

It is the head of a Maya sovereign in limestone and stucco, largely bigger than nature with its 78 cm high. It is a realistic portrait, with empty eyes but expressive mouth. The cheeks are decorated with thick scarring that can represent the trace of ear ornaments, and the head is covered with a headdress.

The catalogue suggests that this type of object, dated from 1200 to 1400 years ago, is rare in this condition due to the fragility of its materials. The estimate of this very beautiful statue is 600 K €.

The archives of the auction house, well placed in terms of tribal art in Paris and Brussels, do not have anything similar. I looked in several databases where I found nothing approaching, through searches on the "Maya" word.

Maya's most interesting result that I found in this quick search is for a jade belt pendant finely incised, sold $ 1.5 million by Christie's on November 12, 2004 in New York.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The sale took place, but some lot number ranges do not include results (with regard to Binoche and Binoche and Renaud - Giquello, who were co-organizers). Regarding Pierre Bergé et Associés, the catalog has been removed from the site.

It is likely that, for reasons that have not been communicated to the public, inputs of several sellers have been withdrawn from sale.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The daily newspaper Libération said today that 93 items to be offered for sale by Maître Binoche, and 8 items that made up the catalog of Pierre Bergé et Associés, were seized two hours before the sale at the request of Mexico state.

Libération said that the provenance of these objects was not in doubt.