Michael Lake
Head of Department
Lot 596
Herbert Ward (British, 1863-1919): A patinated bronze bust of a native African head entitled 'An Aruimi Type'with direct provenance to Herbert and Sarita Ward
Amended
30 January 2019, 10:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £50,000 inc. premium
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Herbert Ward (British, 1863-1919): A patinated bronze bust of a native African head entitled 'An Aruimi Type'
with direct provenance to Herbert and Sarita Ward
modelled full face with plaited hair and pierced ears, the forehead with scarification marks, mounted on a rectangular black marble plinth, the rear with later ink written paper lable inscribed 'AN ARUIMI TYPE HEAD OF THE UPPER CONGO BY HERBERT WARD / His first piece of sculpture made in Lambeth in 1899 in plasticine and cast in bronze. Placed in the Royal Academy in 1901. Simultaneously a plaster cast, a gift to Aston Knight was awarded a mention honourable in the Paris Salon / All Herbert Ward's sculptures and collection of Congo relics except the above are housed in the New National Museum at Washington & Smithsonian Institute', the bronze sold together with a copy of 'A Valiant Gentleman, the biography of HERBERT WARD' by his wife Sarita Ward, the flyleaf of the book inscribed by the author in ink 'To Dick / In memory of one of the very best / With the authors affectionate regards Sarita Ward, October 1927', together with a further later handwritten ink inscription on the title page by another hand 'Mrs Ward, the writer of this book died in Dichfield House, Denham, Bucks / Dichfield House was built in the field opposite Hills House... / Dick Marten & Herbert Ward had always been friends. He gave Dick the Aruimi Head', the head illustrated opposite pg. 153, the bust 54ccm high
modelled full face with plaited hair and pierced ears, the forehead with scarification marks, mounted on a rectangular black marble plinth, the rear with later ink written paper lable inscribed 'AN ARUIMI TYPE HEAD OF THE UPPER CONGO BY HERBERT WARD / His first piece of sculpture made in Lambeth in 1899 in plasticine and cast in bronze. Placed in the Royal Academy in 1901. Simultaneously a plaster cast, a gift to Aston Knight was awarded a mention honourable in the Paris Salon / All Herbert Ward's sculptures and collection of Congo relics except the above are housed in the New National Museum at Washington & Smithsonian Institute', the bronze sold together with a copy of 'A Valiant Gentleman, the biography of HERBERT WARD' by his wife Sarita Ward, the flyleaf of the book inscribed by the author in ink 'To Dick / In memory of one of the very best / With the authors affectionate regards Sarita Ward, October 1927', together with a further later handwritten ink inscription on the title page by another hand 'Mrs Ward, the writer of this book died in Dichfield House, Denham, Bucks / Dichfield House was built in the field opposite Hills House... / Dick Marten & Herbert Ward had always been friends. He gave Dick the Aruimi Head', the head illustrated opposite pg. 153, the bust 54ccm high
Footnotes
H
Saleroom notices
Please note the correct full dimensions for this lot are as follows: Bust - 35.5cm (14") high Plinth 19cm (7.5")high, 15cm (6") wide, 15cm (6") deep The total height is 54.5cm high (21.5") high Provenance footnote for this lot is as follows: The current lot was given by Herbert Ward to his dear friend 'Dick' Morton. Mr Morton lived at Hills House in Denham and, upon his death, the piece passed to his wife -the great aunt of the present owner. A copy of the book 'A Valiant Gentleman,' written by Sarita Ward (the wife of Herbert Ward) accompanies the bronze head. The handwritten inscription inside the book reads: 'Mrs Ward, the writer of this book, died in Dickfield House Denham Bucks. Dickfield House was built by(?) Mrs Morton in the field opposite Hills House after Dick's (Uncle Dick Morton's) death. Dick Morton and Herbie Ward had always been great friends. He gave Dick the Aruimi Head.' As well as using sketches and photographs, Ward used pieces he had collected during his time in the Congo. In his youth he had travelled in New Zealand, Australia and Africa. In 1884, he took a post as an officer in the New Congo Free State. He then joined the Sanford Exploring Company until he left in 1889. When Ward returned to London, he exhibited six times at the Royal Academy before his permanent move to Paris in 1902. His style fits within the oeuvre of the 'New Sculpture Movement,' – a group of British sculptors determined to move away from the rigid boundaries of neoclassicism towards an increased naturalism. In 'A Valiant Gentleman,' Sarita Ward writes: 'The African Head, the composite portrait of 'An Aruwimi Type,' which had evolved from the lump of plasticine at Lambourn, was accepted, and well placed at the Royal Academy in London. Simultaneously, a plaster cast of this same head, a gift to his friend, Aston Knight, who on his own initiative had sent it to the Paris Salon was awarded a 'mention honourable.' Indeed, the Aruimi Type was exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the Salon Societe des Artistes Francais, Paris in 1900. As well as receiving an Honourable Mention for the piece in 1900, in 1908 Ward won the Salon's gold medal for 'Le Chef de Tribu' (now in the Royal Musem for Central Africa, Tervuren). Ward's work rarely comes to auction. Most sculptors of his generation would usually cast major series or reductions of their works through large foundries but Ward did not go down this route. Having said that, a group of twenty two bronzes were sold at Ader-Picard-Tajan, Paris in November 1987 with most realising healthy prices. The most expensive bronze, showing 'Guardian of a Luba Village,' was sold for Fr 375,000 (£37,500). His work has been praised for its detailed ethnographic accuracy but Ward was always adamant that his pieces were, above all art and not scientific studies. Theodore Roosevelt wrote of Ward: 'All the mystery and the savagery and the suffering...and the harsh beauty of the African forest come out in Mr Ward's works. Only an artist could have done what he has done, and no artist could have done it had there not lain within him the soul of a great man, a man both strong and pitiful.' Two versions of the bronze head are currently at the Musee D'Orsay, Paris and Smithsonian's National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural History) Washington. Literature P. Kjellberg, Bronzes of the 19th Century, Schiffer, 1994, p648. S.Ward, A Valiant Gentleman, Chapman and Hall, 1927, p155 Smithsonian and Musee D'Orsay websites
