The largest private collection of African Tribal Art in Ireland will come under the hammer on the first day of Mealy’s two day fine and decorative art sale in Castlecomer on July 15 and 16. A total of 150 lots from the collection of British Army office Allen Denton Miller, who started his personal collection as a young army officer in Dar es Salaam in 1959, includes figures, masks, dolls, totems, pipes and flasks collected on visits to the Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Zambia. The sale of over 1,100 lots includes fine art and antiques from various Irish and English private collections. The catalogue is online.
A NKisi Janus Headed nail fetish from the Congo (250-500). UPDATE: THIS MADE 350 AT HAMMER
Motherhood, an antique figure from Bambara/Mali Gui (10,000-15,000). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A Royal Society of Princes court mask from the Bangwa Kingdom, Cameroon. (500-1,200) UPDATE: THIS FAILED TO REACH THE RESERVE AND WAS UNSOLD