Tribal

The Financial Times takes a little time to map out the Tribal Art market:

The tribal art market can be divided into two categories – decorative pieces that were first made towards the end of the 19th century to sell to outsiders (missionaries were the first buyers), and true collectors’ pieces made by tribes to use in ceremonies and as totems. The former can be bought for as little as £80, while the best examples of the latter can fetch £1m plus. At the height of the market in 2006, a Gabonese “Fang” mask from the Pierre Vérité collection sold for a record €5.9m. The principal sources of tribal art are Africa (mainly the west coast); Oceania (notably Australia, New Guinea and Polynesia) and the Americas (pre-Columbian pieces and those made by the Inuits and North American Indians). […] After the 1930s, most tribes ceased to produce items for their own use, so serious collectors tend to be interested only in earlier pieces. The most sought-after works include those of the African Fang, Baule and Senufo tribes, all Polynesian pieces, those from the Sepik River area of New Guinea and artefacts of pre-Columbian America’s Olmec and Mayan peoples. […] The principal markets are in Europe (especially France and Belgium) and the US, although the number of buyers has grown considerably from the small nucleus of 15 years ago. Worldwide, however, there are still fewer than half a dozen truly major collectors.

The Market: Tribal Art (Financial Times)

Forbes wants you to know that Tribal art is undervalued and has a long pedigree in America and Paris:

Americans who traveled to Paris began collecting African art in the 1920s and ’30s. Among them were Helena Rubinstein and Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield. Many of Crowninshield’s pieces were acquired in the ’40s by sculptor Chaim Gross, whose collection doubled its high estimate of $10.5 million at Sotheby’s last May. In the ’60s African-art galleries popped up along Madison Avenue and the most prominent collectors were Americans, including Nelson Rockefeller. Today’s collectors are split between the U.S. and Europe, with Paris claiming the highest concentration of specialized galleries (as well as the major shows this month).Continue Reading