
About...
Founded in 1990, Galerie Flak specializes in the Ancient Arts of Africa, Oceania and North America. Julien Flak is a certified expert in North American and Oceania Arts at the European Chamber of Art Consultants (CECOA) and a member of the SNA (Syndicat National des Antiquaires).
Contact
8 rue des Beaux Arts, 75006 Paris
Phone: +33 (0)1 46 33 77 77
contact@galerieflak.com
www.galerieflak.com
Butterfly Maiden Kachina doll
Katsina Pahlik / Shalako Mana
Circa 1890s
Carved wood (cottonwood root) & natural pigments
Height: 33 cm
Provenance:
Ex collection John C. Hill, Arizona
Ex collection Thierry Fabre, France, acquired from the above in 2007
Ex Binoche et Giquello, Paris, lot 9, 23 July 2020
Ex private collection, Paris, acquired at the above sale
This Hopi doll represents the goddess of maize. In the crenelated frame around the head, you’ll see the clouds over the mountains; in the small chequerboard at the centre of the forehead, the ear of maize; and around the mouth, the rainbow [...]. Is this not poetry as we continue to hear it?
André Breton, Le Littéraire, 1946
Tevau feather currency / bridal wealth Tevau
Hibiscus fiber, feathers (Myzomela cardinalis), shell
Early 20th century
Dimensions : 75 cm
Formerly in a Princely collection
Photo : © Galerie Flak
These red-feather money rolls from the Santa Cruz Islands constitute one of the Pacific’s most spectacular and graphic forms of currency. Once uncoiled, this money roll called tevau is roughly 30 ft. (9 meters) long. A multitude of rectangular plates covered with feathers are overlapped and affixed to a fiber armature. The feathers are those of the Myzomelia cardinalis, a scarlet bird that feeds on honey. Feather money was used in Santa Cruz as a form of currency for settling important obligations. Tevau were also given as payment on the occasion of a wedding as bride price.
Lwalwa mask
Carved wood, pigments
Early 20th century
Height: 31 cm
Ex Sotheby’s London, November 28, 1983 lot 45
Thence in a private collection, California
Photo : © Galerie Flak
Lwalwa (or Lwalu) art is most famous for the powerful, highly Cubistic masks of which this mask is a magnificent example with perfect proportion and elegant lines. While the nose-profile refers to the long beak of the calao bird, the characteristic protrusions on the temples represent skin decoration. According to Ceyssens (in Tervuren, 1995, p. 328), above and beyond their pure geometric lines, Lwalwa masks are a beautiful embodiment of the balance between the human and animal realms, their elaborate formal structure playing on a subtle balance between the tension of the concave planes, the starkness of the lines and the fullness of the volumes. Lwalwa face masks were used for boys' rites of passage within the ngango institutions. They were also involved in hunting rituals to appease the spirits and seek their blessings. Since they were brought to light in the 1930s, Lwalwa masks have been praised by collectors and artists for their novel form, reminiscent of abstract and Cubist art.
Contact
8 rue des Beaux Arts, 75006 Paris
Phone: +33 (0)1 46 33 77 77
contact@galerieflak.com
www.galerieflak.com