PRESENTING SELECTIONS FROM
THE BILL SIMMONS COLLECTION OF AFRICAN CERAMICS
JACA R A N DA
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JACA R A N DA
ART AND ANTIQUES FROM AFRICA, OCEANIA AND THE AMERICAS
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JACA R A N DA
ART AND ANTIQUES FROM AFRICA, OCEANIA AND THE AMERICAS
www.jacarandatribal.com dori@jacarandatribal.com T +1 646-251-8528 280 Riverside Drive Suite 13E New York City, NY 10025
© 2021, Jacaranda LLC Published March, 2021
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PRESENTING SELECTIONS FROM
THE BILL SIMMONS COLLECTION OF AFRICAN CERAMICS
Bill Simmons
One of the great delights for any passionate art lover is
very best examples. I remember countless times contacting
visiting a standout collection for the first time. I had heard
dealers to inquire about Zulu pots, only to be told that the
for many years about the legendary ceramic collection of
best ones had already gone to Bill. Aside from the Duke of
Bill Simmons. First as a collector, and later as a dealer, I
Bavaria, Bill had no peer in his collecting focus. His great eye
had missed opportunities to acquire ceramic masterpieces
was validated at auction when two of his Zulu pots sold for
because Bill had beaten me to the punch. One in particular
record prices at Sotheby’s, New York in 2019.
stood out and I had been aching to see it again. At long
Formerly a New Yorker, Bill and his wife Gale retired to
last, I was invited to see his magnificent collection, stored
Mexico, prompting the sale of this small group of fine pots.
in a nondescript New York City warehouse. Lined up, row
They have also generously donated and still regularly donate
upon row, were spectacular pots from throughout Africa, all
pots to many institutions, including the Metropolitan
carefully selected for their beautiful form and patina of use.
Museum of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the
Amongst them was the stunning Zulu pot I remembered so
Brooklyn Museum, and numerous other university art
well, together with many other remarkable pots, large and
galleries. We are honored to present a selection of some of
small, but each unique and special in its own way.
Bill’s finest pots – each selected by Bill for their wonderful
Also a collector of textiles and Mexican folk art, Bill first
and unique mix of form and function.
began collecting African pots in the early 1990’s, attracted by their beautiful forms, decoration and patina. He methodically
Dori Rootenberg
nurtured a global network of dealers who could source the
new york city, march 2021
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Bill Simmons with guides Lugano & Moses at Makawale village, Matema Southern Tanzania, 2013.
Left: Professor Karel Nel, artist, curator and collector, viewing the Simmons collection at the Bronx warehouse, 2019.
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AFRICAN CERAMIC VESSELS What draws so many passionate collectors to African
everywhere, a recognized aspect of the living culture.
ceramics? Renowned American contemporary potter
African ceramics are central to daily life, and their
Warren Frederick eloquently writes “How can objects
production and function tie contemporary African life
created in earlier epochs, from our own or other cultures,
to the ancient past. Pots are still used to store and serve
touch us so deeply? Why is a double-necked water jar from
beverages and food; for cooking and brewing beer;
the Cameroon, a satin black Zulu ukhamba for brewing
storing grain and valuables; and are used in ritual healing,
beer, or a softly bent-necked pouring bottle from Chad so
initiatory, and funerary rites. They are often included in
evocative? If forced to generalize, I would argue that these
burials or as grave markers. Some pots are handed down
stunning African objects convey a fundamental sense of
as heirlooms, and others are destroyed after their owner’s
earthiness and immediacy. This pottery embodies nature as
death. Each culture group has a distinctive style of pottery,
it also manipulates nature. The unadorned qualities of clay
and some groups produce ceramics that are renowned and
and earth are embraced in these pots. As a material deftly
acquired by other groups. Patterns and designs are coded,
handled, earthenware is less prone to the afflictions that can
and symbolize many things, from fertility to the medicinal
overwhelm higher-fired clays concealed with thick, colored,
contents of the vessel. Metaphorical attributes and
and seductive glazes. Incorporated in these African vessels
symbolism are also common, especially in reference to the
is a unified spirit of spontaneity and assurance, whether
human body and its adornment. In the Cameroon, pots are
rough and unrefined or elegant and vigorous.”
gendered: big, rounded vessels are female, ceramic dippers
Of all of humankind’s handicrafts, pottery is the oldest.
and lids tend to be male. Other design elements reference
Even writing came after the first pots. And it is theorized
textile patterns, musical instruments, or folklore. Zulu beer
that it was discovered by happenstance. In ancient times,
pots, which comprise a significant percent of the Simmons
people would transport water in handwoven baskets. The
collection, have a concise clarity of form characterized by
water, especially that from rivers, would have some clay
flat bottoms, thin walls and cut off rims. The shape varies
in it. As the clay dried out, it would take on the shape
from spherical, bi-cone to bag-shaped, or a combination
of the basket. Eventually, people realized that these clay
of these depending on the particular geographical region.
linings could be used as sturdy containers. They gathered
Regional stylistic tradition influences the motifs. The
clay, shaped it, and baked it in the sun or hot ashes, and
designs are inspired by fauna and flora, bead work patterns
sometimes decorated the surfaces with primitive tools.
and traditional amasumpa motifs, the raised nodules that
Thus, the first clay pots (and by extension, all of pottery)
occur as decor on wood carving such as headrests and milk
was born.
pails. There are metaphors drawn between beer making,
In Africa, ceramics and ceramic production are
pots and the body of women. The process of fermentation is
Left: Triphonia Mwinuka with her Isyala (fermentation pot), Matema village, Matema Southern Tanzania, 2013.
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Women carrying beer to a wedding. B W Caney, albumen print, circa 1880. Right: World-renowned potter Nesta Nala (1940–2005), matriarch of the Nala clan of potters.
akin to fertility, pregnancy and the continuation of lineage. Most firings, which last from around twenty minutes to a few hours, take place in the open or in a shallow pit, fueled by whatever combustibles are readily available, including wood, brush, grass, animal dung and other vegetal matter. Relatively low temperatures result in pots that are somewhat porous (and are therefore, through transpiration, able to keep liquid contents cool) and are able to withstand uneven heating and cooling – both advantages in areas where refrigeration is not readily available and cooking is done over a fire. African ceramics in general have long been excluded from the status of fine art, often sidelined as craft or design in the Western art market. But, over the past few decades, ceramics have garnered increased mainstream interest and acclaim, earning their rightful place in the fine art lexicon alongside painting, sculpture, and photography.
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Two women and their beer pots, Magwaza, KwaZulu-Natal, circa 1970’s
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IKALANGO-NYAKUSA WATER STORAGE POT MABABU VILLAGE, NORTHERN TIP OF LAKE MALAWI, SOUTHERN TANZANIA height:11 1/2 in; diameter:17 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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ZULU UKHAMBA KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 8 1/2 in; diameter 11 1/2 in PROVENANCE
Mynhardt Bester Michael Heuermann
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BOZO/SOMONO RITUAL POT MALI height:19 in; diameter:19 1/2 in PROVENANCE
Mohamed Berete
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LOBI BREWING VESSEL GAOUA, BURKINA FASO height:19 in; diameter:19 1/2 in PROVENANCE
Mamadou Konate
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LELA POT LEO, BURKINA FASO height: 9 1/2 in; diameter 9 1/2 in PROVENANCE
Gilbert Ouedraogo
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ZULU UKHAMBA OYAYA AREA, KWAZULU-NATAL height: 10 in; diameter: 13 in Potter: Siphiwe Nala (Mother of Nesta Nala) PROVENANCE
Katrina Mthembul David Roberts
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ZULU UPHISO OYAYA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 13 in; diameter 14 1/2 in Potter: Nesta Nala PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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KASENA LIDDED POT TIEBELE, BURKINA FASO height: 14 in; diameter: 14 1/4 in PROVENANCE
Gilbert Ouedraogo
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ZULU UPHISO DOWN FROM KRANSKOP BEFORE THE TUGELA RIVER, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 17 in; diameter: 15 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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IGALA VESSEL NIGERIA height: 17 in; diameter: 17 1/2 in PROVENANCE
Degumeh Sillah
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ZULU UKHAMBA MPHISE AREA, KWAZULU-NATAL height: 9 in; diameter 10 1/2 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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ZULU UKHAMBA JAMESON’S DRIFT, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 8 1/2 in; diameter: 10 1/2 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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LOBI POT BANFORA, BURKINA FASO height: 18 in; diameter 21 in PROVENANCE
Oumaru Ouedraogo
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KURUMBA STORAGE JAR DJIBO, BURKINA FASO height: 25 in; diameter: 17 in PROVENANCE
Gilbert Ouedraogo
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ZULU UKHAMBA HLABISA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 16 in; diameter: 18 in Potter/owner: Agrinett Ngobese PROVENANCE
Roger Orchard
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LOBI RITUAL VESEL GAOUA, BURKINA FASO height: 20 1/4 in; diameter: 21 in PROVENANCE
Gilbert Ouedraogo
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ZULU UKHAMBA MAKABILENE, NORTH OF TUGELA, BORDERS ON MAGWAZA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 15 in; diameter 19 in Potter: Busisiwe Ngobese PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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NUPE VESSEL NIGERIA height: 14 in; diameter 16 in PROVENANCE
Yoro Ndow
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ZULU UKHAMBA HLABISA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 14 1/2 in; diameter 21 in Potter: Busisiwe Ngobese PROVENANCE
Frank Jolles
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ZULU UKHAMBA HLABISA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 15 in; diameter: 20 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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IBO RITUAL VESEL NIGERIA height: 22 1/2 in; diameter: 21 in PROVENANCE
Ibrahim Kao
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BAMANA RITUAL VESSEL MALI height: 24 1/2 in; diameter 22 in PROVENANCE
Souleymane Bagayoko
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TOUSSIAN VESSEL BANFORA, BURKINA FASO height: 17 in; diameter 15 in PROVENANCE
Mamadou Konate
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ZULU UKHAMBA ESHOWE, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 12 in; diameter 15 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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TUTSI VESSEL RWANDA height: 14 1/2 in; diameter: 12 in PROVENANCE
Bryan Reeves
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BERIBA (BAATONU) RITUAL VESSEL BEMBERIKA VILLAGES, NE BENIN height: 12 1/2 in; diameter 13 1/2 in PROVENANCE
Ali Seydou
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ZULU UKHAMBA NONGOMA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 12 1/2 in; diameter: 15 in PROVENANCE
Mynhardt Bester Kevin Conru
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KOKEDO BREWING POT NORTHERN UGANDA/ SOUTHERN SUDAN height: 22 in; diameter: 21 1/2 in PROVENANCE
Ali Sarkor
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ZULU UKHAMBA MPHISE AREA, KWAZULU-NATAL height: 10 in; diameter: 10 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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ZULU UKHAMBA PONGOLA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 13 in; diameter 16 in PROVENANCE
Mynhardt Bester Kevin Conru
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KURUMBA STORAGE VESSEL YATENGA, BURKINA FASO height: 25 in; diameter: 15 in PROVENANCE
William Wright, Princeton, USA
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ZULU UKHAMBA NEAR KRANSKOP, KWAZULU, NATAL height: 11 1/2 in; diameter 13 in PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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ZULU UKHAMBA MPHABALANE, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA height: 10 in; diameter: 12 1/2 in Potter: Thandiwe Mabhengu Magwasa PROVENANCE
David Roberts
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JACA R A N DA
ART AND ANTIQUES FROM AFRICA, OCEANIA AND THE AMERICAS
www.jacarandatribal.com dori@jacarandatribal.com T +1 646-251-8528 280 Riverside Drive Suite 13E New York City, NY 10025
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