A Sepik carved board

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

My today's highlight is a board of the Sawos group in the region of New Guinea east of Sepik River. It is probably large, but the press release from Sotheby's does not give such information, and the catalogue of the sale of November 14 in New York is not yet published.

Such a board is named Malu, and was made prior to contact with white men. Very finely carved with stone or shell tools, this one is covered with red, white and black pigments. The fact that pigments are still there makes it an exceptional item. Apart from the top of the board that presents a human figure, the rest of it is a complex abstract structure that could be considered as a genealogical tree.

In 1984, this item was presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in an exhibition intending to show the links between "primitivism" and modern art. A tribal work pushed to the rank of a work of art: it reminds me of the Baga serpent that I presented to you once in this group, and was awarded $ 3.3 million including charges on May 16 at the same auction house.

The estimate of our Malu has already started to vibrate. On June 20, in its press release, Sotheby's announced between 500 and 700 K $. Today on the site, it is already question of 600 to 900 K $.

From the same Sawos group, another carved board of similar shape showing stylized animals, about 2 meters high, was sold 156 K € fees included by Sotheby's in Paris on December 5, 2007.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Buyers have recognized the rarity of this exceptional work of art, made prior to contact with the rest of civilization: $ 1.3 million including expenses.

Now I am able to tell you its size: 2.08 meters high.