Paris, 30 June 2015

The African and Oceanic art sale at Sotheby’s France that took place on 24 June 2015 amassed a sum of €11.1 million, exceeding its initial estimate of between €6.5 and €9.5 million. This event was also the auction house’s second best sale of arts in this field.

Four lots were sold for above €500,000, 14 for above €100,000, and two world records were broken. One of the masterpieces from the former Vérité collection, the Masque-double, Baulé, was sold for €5,411,000 although it was estimated to sell for between €2 million and €3 million. This made it the highest-selling lot of the auction and also broke the world record for a Baulé work such as the second highest price for a African mask. The second place was taken by a commemorative Akan head from Ghana, which was sold for €855,000, although its estimate was fixed between €200,000 and €300,000, establishing a new world record for a Akan work. The commemorative Fon Tchatchuang statue, Royaume de Batoufam, a piece from the famous Belgian collection of René and Odette Delenne, slightly exceeded its high-end estimate of €700,000, selling for €735,000. In the same way, the Songye statue, remarkable because of the importance of the head, the power of the face, and the richness of its attributes, exceeded its high-end estimate of €500,000, selling for €699,000.

According to Marguerite de Sabran, director of the department African and Oceanic Arts in Sotheby’s France: “The old African arts were celebrated for their universal beauty this evening. Our selection and the sellers’s trust were key for these remarkable results which we are very proud of.”