Ethnographica & Tribal Art

The best-known type of Maori jewellery is the pounamu (greenstone) hei tiki pendants, the figural carvings representing ‘the first man’ that were typically worn by women.

Sotheby’s is to offer the private collection of Hélène Leloup (b.1927), one of the major pioneering dealers in African and Oceanic Art.

The Abacus sale on June 28-30 in Melbourne will feature an eclectic mix of material.

Among the highlights of Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Interiors sale was a remarkable anthropomorphic funerary urn from Ecuador.

One of the most striking items on offer at 'The Tribal Art Fair Online' this month is a hammered brass ‘ogba’ anklet.

Zemanek-Münster in Würzburg is holding its 100th auction on April 15 and has taken in some impressive pieces for the landmark

The new season got off to an encouraging start for Cologne auction house Lempertz (26% buyer’s premium) when it held an African and Oceanic art sale on February 1 in Brussels

A summary of news and events from around the trade

UK auctioneer hails successful sale offering attractive investments to buyers worldwide

An Abelam hornbill sculpture from Papua New Guinea is among the highlights at the Tribal Art Fair in Amsterdam.

David MalÍk made his appearance at Tribal Art London (TAL) worthwhile through the sale of two African sculptures: a Luba female figure and a Chokwe sculpture.

Tribal Art London returns as an in-person event this year with a roster of more than 20 international exhibitors.

International array of visitors will be strolling the streets during the Parcours des Mondes to peruse and buy tribal art

Aboriginal shields come in two basic types: broad shields used for deflecting projectiles and the narrow, compact parrying shields used in close contact fighting.

A selection of Oceanic hardwood clubs and shields has come for sale at Sworders in Essex on November 9-10 as part of the auction of objects from the collection of dealer Jan Ellen Finch (1952-2021) of Finch & Co.

The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas sale at Woolley & Wallis on September 21 includes 270 lots from the collection of tribal and pre-Columbian art assembled by Romy Rey of Richmond, Surrey.

Overseas interest in tribal art and Doulton Lambeth wares fuelled the higher prices at Cuttlestones’ (20% buyer’s premium) Penkridge sale but it was a new outbreak of cardomania which raised temperatures of collectors across England.

Sperm whale teeth, acquired from mammals that had beached on local reefs, had a deep significance to Fijian society.

Among the most extraordinary of all navigational charts are the lattice ‘stick maps’ used by Marshall Islanders.

Carved from the heart of the toa or ironwood tree, long pole clubs with scalloped blades (akatara) are associated with Rarotonga and Atiu on the Cook Islands.