London – One of South African artist Irma Stern's landmark Zanzibar paintings Lelemana Dancers, painted in 1945 sold for £1,222,250 at Bonhams Modern and Contemporary African Art sale in London today (12 October). The work had been estimated at £700,000-1,000,000.

Bonhams Director of African Art, Giles Peppiatt, said "Irma Stern witnessed a lelemana – a Swahili dance lasting several hours that often marks rites of passage – on her first visit to Zanzibar in 1939. It made such a big impression on her that when she returned to the island in 1945, she rekindled her interest in the subject with the wonderful results we see in Lelemana Dancers. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of interest in the painting, both before and during the auction, and this was fully reflected in the high price achieved."

Other highlights included:

• Hausa Boy by Ben Enwonwu (1917-1994). Enwonwu visited the north of Nigeria before and after his exhibition and lecture tour of the United States in 1950. Many of the paintings and sculptures exhibited during this tour were of northern Nigerian themes. Painted in 1949, Hausa Boy sold for £300,250 (estimate: £50,000-80,000).

• The Blue Headscarf by Ben Enwonwu. Sold for £162,750 (estimate: £60,000-90,000).

• Untitled a work from 2014 by Ivorian artist, Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba (Born 1983), often known simply as Aboudia. Sold for £72,250 (estimate: £30,000-50,000). A further work, from 2016, by the same artist also named Untitled sold for £55,250 (estimate: £10,000-15,000).

• Bow Harp by Nigerian artist Jimoh Akolo. Sold for £62,750 (estimate: £10,000-15,000).

12 October 2021