Rare Uli Figure at Auctionata
Uli figure, wood, natural pigments, inset shell eyes, 102 cm, starting price €40,000.
A rare Uli figure, formerly in the collection of Maurice de Vlaminck, is the star of Auctionata’s upcoming tribal art online auction.
For the past century, the Uli carvings from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea have captured the imaginations of collectors and artists alike. Up for auction is a hermaphrodite figure from circa 1890, standing over the severed head of an ancestor. The phallus and prominent breasts embody the essential characteristics of an ideal ruler: aggressive strength and nurturing care. Executed in wood, the surface of the sculpture is covered with intricately carved geometric patterns, highlighted with black and white natural pigments to dramatic effect. The face is highly detailed, with a full set of jagged teeth and inset shell eyes.
Uli figure and Maurice de Vlaminck in his study.
Uli figures played an important part in fertility and mortuary rites, though their exact role has yet to be discovered. Less ornate but more permanent than the sculptures of neighbouring tribes, the carvings appear to have been kept and reused many times. The conversion of native peoples to Christianity meant that many Uli figures were destroyed. Today only about 200 remain, most in museums across the world, with only a handful known to exist in private collections. The present figure once belonged to the French Fauve artist Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) who, like many of his contemporaries, collected and found inspiration in African and Oceanic objects.
The auction will take place on 5 November 2014, 6pm CET on www.auctionata.com.
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