Collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli

From the extraordinary collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli (1910 - 1996), we are proud to present an ensemble of masks and sculptures.

Rafaeli’s life was profoundly marked by the geopolitical turmoil of the 20th century. Being born in Riga in 1910 to Communist parents, he lived the last moments of the Russian Empire and the Revolution of 1917. He obtained a doctorate in political science at Heidelberg University during the 1930s, and witnessed the rise of fascism and antiSemitism, convincing him from an early age of the need for a Jewish state. During the Second World War, he was particularly active in the Zionist movement. In 1940 he fled to the U.S. and joined the U.S. Army in 1943, taking part in the Normandy landings.

Traveling extensively, Alex Rafaeli started a collection of African art during the 1930s and befriended a.o. Paul Guillaume from whom he bought the famous Guro mask that was sold in 2015 by the Brussels dealer Didier Claes at the prestigious TEFAF fair in Maastricht.

During the 1950s (he settled in Jerusalem in 1954) Dr. Alex Rafaeli expanded and worked on his collection of African art, resulting in two major exhibitions of African art, the first in 1953 at the National Museum Bezalel in Jerusalem (also shown in Tel Aviv), then in 1955 at the Haifa Museum of Modern Art. During these exhibitions, he sometimes managed to convince other collectors to sell some of their pieces to him, such as is the case for lots 20 and 22 presented here.

Most of the lots presented in this auction were included in the aforementioned exhibitions, but the highlight is undoubtedly a Kota Reliquary Figure, that can be recognized on an archival photograph from the Ladislas Szecsi collection (Ladislas Segy Gallery, New York) in the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives (lot 20).

016 . Baule Mask

Ivory Coast Wood, 45 cm

Provenance: Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem

€ 5000 - 7000

Ivory Coast Wood, 22 cm

Provenance: Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem

Exhibited and published: Jerusalem, The National Museum Bezalel, Masks of Primitive peoples from the collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli, 7 February - 7 March 1953, cat.58

Haifa, Museum of Modern Art. Cultural Department, Art of Primitive People. Masks from the collection of Dr. Rafaeli, Sculptures from Other Collections, November 1955, cat.58

€ 3000 - 5000

With a handwritten label underneath the pulley: "A 9/15 Le Toubab envahisse le Dioula"

018 . Kai Lyngfeldt-Larsen (Danish, 1920 - 1976)

8 Chairs

Rosewood and leather

H.79 cm, seat 41 cm

Produced by Søren Willadsen Møbelfabrik, 1960s

€ 2000 - 3000

Ivory Coast Wood, 34 cm

Provenance: Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem

Exhibited and published: Jerusalem, The National Museum Bezalel, Masks of Primitive peoples from the collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli, 7 February - 7 March 1953, cat.1 (label on verso) Haifa, Museum of Modern Art. Cultural Department, Art of Primitive People. Masks from the collection of Dr. Rafaeli, Sculptures from Other Collections, November 1955, cat.1

€ 4000 - 6000

020 Kota Reliquary Figure

Gabon

Wood and brass, 59 cm

Provenance:

Probably Frederick Wolff-Knize (1890-1949), New York

Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem

Exhibited and published:

Jerusalem, The National Museum Bezalel, Masks of Primitive peoples from the collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli, 7 February - 7 March 1953, cat. cat.24 (ill., and with label on verso)

Haifa, Museum of Modern Art. Cultural Department, Art of Primitive People. Masks from the collection of Dr. Rafaeli, Sculptures from other Collections, November 1955, cat.24

€ 50 000 - 70 000

Guardian figures such as these were made for the Mungala, a male secret society of the Kota. In the archives of Ladislas Szecsi, now held at the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives, we find a photograph (inv. 06000108) showing three Kota reliquary figures, amongst which this very one can be recognized on the right.

According to the Van Rijn Archives, this Kota Reliquary figure used to belong to Frederick Wolff-Knize, who left Austria during WWII for the U.S. For several years a part of his collection was kept at the Vienna Museum, only to be returned to its owner after the war.

021 Tsanghi / Punu Mask

Gabon

Wood and kaolin, 28 cm

Provenance: Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem

Exhibited and published: Jerusalem, The National Museum Bezalel, Masks of Primitive peoples from the collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli, 7 February - 7 March 1953, cat.27 (label on verso)

Haifa, Museum of Modern Art. Cultural Department, Art of Primitive People. Masks from the collection of Dr. Rafaeli, Sculptures from Other Collections, November 1955, cat.27

€ 6000 - 8000

D.R. Congo

Wood, 38,5 cm

Provenance: Max Arnold Collection

Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem (since 1955)

Exhibited and published:

Jerusalem, The National Museum Bezalel, Masks of Primitive peoples from the collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli, 7 February - 7 March 1953, cat.59

Haifa, Museum of Modern Art. Cultural Department, Art of Primitive People. Masks from the collection of Dr. Rafaeli, Sculptures from other Collections, November 1955, cat.59

€ 6000 - 8000

023 Kongo Maternity

D.R. Congo Wood, 28 cm

Provenance: Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem

Exhibited and published: Jerusalem, The National Museum Bezalel, Masks of Primitive peoples from the collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli, 7 February - 7 March 1953, cat.63 (label underneath) Haifa, Museum of Modern Art. Cultural Department, Art of Primitive People. Masks from the collection of Dr. Rafaeli, Sculptures from other Collections, November 1955, cat.63

€ 3000 - 5000

D.R. Congo

Wood and organic material, 22 cm

Provenance: Alex Rafaeli Collection, Jerusalem

Exhibited and published: Jerusalem, The National Museum Bezalel, Masks of Primitive peoples from the collection of Dr. Alex Rafaeli, 7 February - 7 March 1953, cat.64

Haifa, Museum of Modern Art. Cultural Department, Art of Primitive People. Masks from the collection of Dr. Rafaeli, Sculptures from other Collections, November 1955, cat.64

€ 5000 - 8000

Marquesas

Bone, 5,7 cm

Provenance:

Ligabue Collection, Venice

€ 6000 - 8000

026 . Cali Fiji Club

Fiji Island

Early 19th c. Wood, 106 cm

Provenance:

Michel Thieme Collection, Amsterdam

De Baecque & Associés, Paris, 16 March 2016, Vente Objets de hasard - Art Africain - Art Populaire - Archéologie, lot 71

Galerie Monbrison, Paris (2017)

Ligabue Collection, Venice

Published:

Steven Hooper, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania [exhibition catalog], Skira, Milan, pp.202, 291 (ill.)

Steven Hooper, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique [exhibition catalog], Skira/Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, 2022, pp.202, 291, cat.65 (ill.)

Exhibited:

Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania, 16 October 2021 - 13 March 2002, cat.65 (ill.) Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique, 8 June - 25 september, cat.65 (ill.)

€ 8000 - 12 000

Exceptional and rare Cali with elaborate geometric patterns. The contrasting play of convex and concave curves, typical for this type of spurred club called cali is derived from the shape of the flower of the Cali, a species of the banana plant to be found in Fiji.

027

Wahaika Short Club

Aoteroa (New Zealand)

Maori, 18th c.

Wood, 39,3 x 14,5 x 2,5 cm

Provenance:

Moyse's Hall Museum, Bury St Edmunds

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge, acquired from above in 1933, inv. num. 1933.552

Ligabue Collection, Venice

Published:

Steven Hooper, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania [exhibition catalog], Skira, Milan, pp.120, 278, 279 (ill.)

Steven Hooper, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique [exhibition catalog], Skira/Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, 2022, pp.120, 278, 279 (ill.)

Exhibited:

Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania, 16 October 2021 - 13 March 2002, cat.5 (ill.)

Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique, 8 June - 25 september, cat.5 (ill.)

€ 10 000 - 15 000

Beautifully patinated, old Wahaika Rakau, the handle adorned with a Tiki. The Wahaika Rakau was a ceremonial weapon not intended to be used in actual warfare but more in mock battles and dances. They were also worn as chiefly regalia items, usually through a belt. The term ‘wahaika’ translates as ‘fish mouth’ - a reference to the shape of the blade.

028 Culacula

Fiji Island

Early to Mid 19th c. Wood, 106 cm

Provenance:

Alexandre Bernand Collection, Paris

Alain Schoffel, Brussels

Ligabue Collection, Venice

Published:

Steven Hooper, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania [exhibition catalog], Skira, Milan, pp.196, 290 (ill.)

Steven Hooper, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique [exhibition catalog], Skira/ Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, 2022, pp.196, 290 (ill.)

Exhibited: Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania, 16 October 2021 - 13 March 2002, cat.60 (ill.)

Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique, 8 June - 25 september, cat.60 (ill.)

€ 15 000 - 20 000

Very rare culacula dance-paddle in New Zealand Maori style.

029 Sepik Amulet

Papua New Guinea, Sepik River

Late 18th, early, mid-19th c.

Hardwood, 22 cm

Provenance:

Ligabue Collection, Venice

€ 3000 - 5000

030 Toki Pou Tangata

Maori, New Zealand

Pounamu stone, 14,5 cm

Provenance:

Ligabue Collection, Venice

€ 1000 - 1500

Blade of a ceremonial adze

031 . Apia Nie Bowl

Wuvulu (formerly Matty Island), Papua New Guinea Wood, 6,2 x 31,5 x 14 cm

Provenance: Ben Tursh Collection, Brussels

By descent

€ 6000 - 8000

This type of dish, known as Apia nie, to be found on Wuvulu, is used specifically to collect coconut milk. Older dishes like the one presented here obtained their delicate glossy patina from the coconut oil. Apia nie strikingly reflect the pure and minimalistic aesthetics of Micronesian art. In his description of a similar dish from his collection, auctioned in 1978, George Ortiz wrote: "The most successful form for a dish ever made in any civilisation, of masterful abstract and pure line. The relationship of curve and plane, of solidity and lightness, of strength and elegance to its form creates a volume which is a great sculpture - a sheer delight to the eyes, a homage of man to space."

George Ortiz, The George Ortiz Collection of Primitive Works of Art, Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, 29 June 1978, lot 86, pp. 76-77

032 Jean-Dominique Cassini (French-Italian, 1625-1712)

Carte de la Lune - 1679

Engraving on paper

59 x 78 cm (sheet) - 56,5 x 55,5 cm (plate)

Unidentified watermark

Inscribed alongside the lower left rim of the plate: Carte de la Lune, and towards the right side: de Jean Dominique Cassini

€ 35 000 - 50 000

First state of Cassini IV’s reissue of Jean Dominique Cassini’s (1625 - 1712) famous Moon map that was presented to the Paris Académie des Sciences on 18 February 1679.

Jean Dominique Cassini was the first astronomer of the Cassini dynasty who was to hold the reins of the Paris Observatory for 126 years. Upon his arrival in France at the invitation of King Louis XIV, his first assignment was to draw an accurate map of the moon that would allow the calculation of longitude at sea.

Cassini called on the draughtsman Jean Patigny (1647-1679) to make the preliminary drawings. No less than 70 such drawings by Patigny are kept at the Paris Observatory library.

To obtain an image as clear and precise as possible of the Moon’s landscape, drawings were only made of that part of the moon that a particular time during the lunar cycle had the strongest contrast. Observations could not be made during a full moon when the relief would too flattened out by the light. The painstaking task of making and assembling these different detailed drawings into a full view of the moon lasted from 1671 to 1678. It is thanks to this peculiar approach of assembling drawings of partial views of the moon that such surprising relief and clarity could be achieved. Up until the advent of photography, Cassini’s Moon map remained the most precise map of the moon that was ever made. Not only from a scientific point of view but also from an artistic point of view, the print was absolutely extraordinary. It features some strange elements that have only increased its appeal over the centuries. There is the unusual orientation of the map, which shows the Moon upside down as if observed through an astronomical refractor and is turned clockwise by about 30°. But the most intriguing detail that has kept scholars puzzled over centuries is the presence of a woman’s head with flowing hair at the Heraclides Promontory and a heart-shaped figure in the lower left part of the moon. The woman’s head can also be seen in three of the preparatory drawings by Patigny, and whether it is some hidden message of love from Cassini or Patigny for their respective wives remains a mystery.

Amongst scholars, some claim that Jean Patigny himself engraved the copperplate for this map, although the name of Claude Melan (1598 - 1688) has been suggested as well. Indeed, the virtuoso technique used to engrave the Moon map, using exclusively parallel lines of different thicknesses to create relief, is something that Mellan is famous for.

By the 1780s, Cassini IV (1748-1845) - by then the Director of the Paris Observatory - advocated to have a reprint made of the 1679 map since barely any copies were still available. The original copperplate was kept in the Royal printing workshop, and in 1787 he was allowed to print one hundred copies, bearing alongside the lower left rim of the plate the inscription “Carte de la Lune”, and towards the right side “de Jean Dominique Cassini”. It is one of these hundred copies that is presented here. It is very rare to find a copy of these where the paper has not been trimmed.

033 . Totokia

Fiji Island

Early to mid 19th c.

Hardwood, vegetal fibers, 95 cm

Provenance:

Galerie Monbrison, Paris (2017)

Ligabue Collection, Venice

Published:

Steven Hooper, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania [exhibition catalog], Skira, Milan, pp.200-201, 290-291 (ill.)

Steven Hooper, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique [exhibition catalog], Skira/Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, 2022, pp.200-201, 290-291 (ill.)

Exhibited:

Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, Power and Prestige. The Art of Clubs in Oceania, 16 October 2021 - 13 March 2002, cat.64 (ill.)

Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris, Pouvoir et Prestige. Art des massues du Pacifique, 8 June - 25 september, cat.64 (ill.)

€ 8000 - 12 000

So-called “pineapple club”, this war club was designed to drive a neat hole through the enemy’s skull, the weight of the heavy head concentrated in the bent point at the top. Its shape was achieved by tying a sapling during its growth at an angle that would give the club its distinctive shape. Traditionally these clubs were carried by chiefs, and its fine decoration throughout the shaft with decorative geometric patterns attests to the importance of its owner. The shape of the head is actually based on the shape of the Pandanus fruit since pineapples were not known in the Fiji Islands.

This large Totokia has retained some of the fiber bindings that were applied to the head to decorate the club both in combat and in dance performances. Three plain and two black cords remain.

Marquesas Islands

Stone, 9 cm

Provenance: Ligabue Collection, Venice

€ 2000 - 3000

035 . Ambrym Slit Drum

Ambrym Island, Vanuatu Wood, 138 cm

Provenance: Ligabue Collection, Venice

€ 4000 - 6000

Old vertical slit drum that is typical to be found on the central and southern islands of Vanuatu, particularly on Malekula and Ambrym. Made from a hollowed-out log, they sport a sculpted face at the top with big disk-shaped eyes, said to represent ancestral figures.

These slit drums play an integral role in the economic system and social stratification of Ambrym society. When a man accumulates enough wealth, usually in the form of pigs, he pays for a drum to be made, as well as for a ceremony marking the man’s advancement to a higher societal status.

Sumatra

Glazed ceramic and wood, 10 cm

Provenance:

Ben Tursh Collection, Brussels

By descent

€ 1000 - 1500

Luzon Island, Philippines Wood, 44 cm

Provenance: Ligabue Collection, Venice

€ 6000 - 8000

038

(Austrian, 1870 - 1933)

Two Chairs - c.1899

Mahogany and brass 79 cm (seat height: 43 cm)

€ 4000 - 6000