A superb and important Guro heddle pulley, Ivory Coast

the large head with scarification at the cheeks and wearing an elaborately backswept coiffure; Inagaki base; 'N.6' in white pigment on proper right side; old label '[...].24[...]'; fine deep brown, partially lustrous patina.

Galerie Percier, Paris, by 1935
Helena Rubinstein, Paris and New York
Parke-Bernet Galleries, The Helena Rubinstein Collection, New York, April 21, 1966, lot 18
Acquired at the above auction

Museum of Modern Art, New York, African Negro Art, March 18 - May 19, 1935
The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York, African Art in Westchester from Private Collections, April 24 – June 6, 1971
Pace Gallery, New York, African Spirit Images and Identities, April 24 - May 29, 1976

James Johnson Sweeney (ed.), African Negro Art, New York, 1935, cat. 126 (unillustrated)
Claude Roy, The Art of the Savages, New York, 1958, p. 47
The Hudson River Museum (ed.), African Art in Westchester from Private Collections, Yonkers, 1971, cat. 106b (unillustrated)
Leon Siroto and Bryce Holcombe, African Spirit Images and Identities, New York, 1976, pp. 79 and 100, cat. 174 (referenced as 'Baule')
Judith Keller, Walker Evans: The Getty Museum Collection, London, 1995, p. 114, fig. 366
Virginia-Lee Webb, Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935, New York, 2000, p. 65, pl. 15

Good condition overall; left front bottom of body broken and reattached (old Western repair).
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present lot is featured on plate 129 of Walker Evans' portfolio of photographs accompanying the exhibition African Negro Art at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (March 18 - May 19, 1935). The portfolio was the subject of the exhibition Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 1 - September 3, 2000.