PHILADELPHIA — Freeman’s will conduct its inaugural Ritual and Culture auction, to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 10 A.M. EDT. Celebrating the richness and diversity of global cultures, this sale includes objects and works of art from Africa, Asia, medieval Europe, and the Americas, with some pieces dating back to antiquity. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.
Works were hand-selected across categories by Freeman’s specialists. Together, they explore the human desire to understand the universe through religious expression and artistic creation. This eclectic event encourages both lifelong and emerging collectors to adopt a more fluid and personal approach to how they add new pieces.
With an emphasis on traditions and ceremonies, Freeman’s will present objects, artifacts, texts and codices relating to deities, hagiography, storytelling, bodily practices, cultural transmission and our relationship to animals and nature.
French and Burgundian Gothic sculptures from a private New York City collection are among the event’s highlights. These pieces were privately evaluated in 2011 by the late Théo-Antoine Hermanès, the noted Swiss medievalist and conservator.
Coming from that collection is a large, 15th century Burgundian carved limestone portal or funerary figure, which likely represents St. Catherine of Alexandria (Lot 7, $10,000-$15,000). This piece was once believed to depict the “Pregnant Virgin,” likely due to the low-slung, protruding belly.
From the same collector also comes a life-size Egyptian Late Period bronze figure of a seated cat (above), circa 664-332 B.C. (Lot 3, $30,000-$50,000). In Ancient Egypt, cats were associated with the goddess of pregnancy and childbirth, Bastet. This piece has not been to market since it was acquired at Sotheby’s New York nearly 40 years ago.
Also notable from the collection is a life-size limestone bust of a kneeling man, possibly Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea from the late 15th/early 16th century (Lot 10, $8,000-$12,000). It is carved from the iron-veined limestone of the Strasbourg region and crafted in the manner of the master of Strasbourg Cathedral, Hans Hammer.
Fifteen incunabula, or books printed before 1500, will also be featured. This is headed by a leaf from the first printed book in the West, the Gutenberg Bible, circa 1450-55 (Lot 26, $40,000-$60,000). This leaf was part of a defective copy from the Munich Royal Library’s collection. In 1832, English diplomat Robert Curzon purchased it, and bookseller Gabriel Wells broke it up to sell as individual leaves in 1920.
Freeman’s is especially pleased to offer as part of this sale the Collection of Thomas McNemar, which features nearly 50 lots of African masks and artifacts of ritual significance, as well as a larger group of highly decorative works.
Thomas McNemar was a prominent collector and gallerist, specializing in the arts of West and Central Africa. After building his own collection, he established the McNemar Gallery on East 50th Street in New York, and, later, another in San Francisco. He also acted as a consultant for major sales, including the seminal Helena Rubinstein sale at Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet in 1966.
Highlights from the McNemar Collection include a carved wood and kaolin Mbole Yela mask from the Democratic Republic of Congo (Lot 138, $3,000-$5,000) and a large collection of carved wood Guro, Jimini, Senufo and Baule heddle pulleys from Côte d’Ivoire (Lot 109, $3,000-$5,000).
The Ritual and Culture sale is the latest in Freeman’s new themed auctions. These invite collectors to consider how an idea, concept or passion manifests itself across different art categories. Other upcoming themed auctions include Age of Exploration: Travel & Discovery on Oct. 14 and Elements: Earth & Fire on Oct. 21.
For details contact Tesssa Laney, head of sale, at tlaney@freemansauction.com or 215-940-9826.
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