Brussels – A remarkable Pende mask, estimated at €20,000–30,000, collected by Camille-Aimé Coquilhat (1853–1891) will be offered at Bonhams' African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian Art sale on 24 June in Brussels. Coquilhat joined Stanley's International African Association expedition to the Upper Congo in 1882 and served in Stanleyville until 1884. His experiences among the Ngala people were documented in his 1888 publication Sur le Haut-Congo. Shortly before his death from malaria in Boma in 1891, he was appointed Vice Governor-General of the Congo Free State.

Émilie Jolly, Head of the African and Oceanic Arts department in Belgium, commented: "Following the success of our inaugural African and Oceanic Arts sale last December, we are delighted to announce our next upcoming auction, which will take place on June 24 in Brussels. The sale will present a carefully curated selection of works from Africa, Oceania, Indonesia, and North America, including pieces from distinguished private collections and notable dealers."

Also featured is a refined Punu mask from Gabon, estimated at €6,000–8,000, and a group of West African heddle pulleys, with estimates ranging from €800 to €4,000.

The Pacific section features several notable pieces, including a rare Cook Islands pole club, akatara, with an estimate of €50,000–60,000, and a finely crafted Maori whalebone hand club, wahaika, valued at €15,000–20,000. Also included is a large Maori nephrite figure pendant, hei tiki, with paua shell-inlaid eyes, estimated at €15,000–20,000. An exceptionally large ornament from the Marquesas Islands, formerly part of the renowned James Hooper collection, carries an estimate of €20,000–30,000.

Other highlights of the sale include:

• From Melanesia a fine Iatmul gable mask from New Guinea, was acquired by the famous Swiss collector Josef Mueller from the Paris dealer Charles Ratton, circa 1935 (€30,000-50,000). A Iatmul suspension hook, once owned by the Los Angeles dealer, Harry Franklin is estimated at €20,000-30,000. Both these items featured in the Sepik Ramu Art exhibition held in Brussels in 2019.
• From New Caledonia a mask, once in the collection of the famous New York dealer, Mathias Komor, is estimated at €18,000-22,000, and a ceremonial axe adorned with two small carved masks and bound in flying fox fur fibres, at €8,000-12,000.
• A fine Northern Tlingit maskette, from Alaska, which probably once adorned a shaman's headdress, is estimated at €5,000-8,000.