5 Flutes Lot n° 18

5 flutes 1: Mossi, Burkina Faso / 2: Marka, Mali / 3: Lobi, Burkina Faso / 4. & 5: Bwa, Burkina Faso. Ohne Sockel / without base Wood. H 10 - 35,5 cm. Provenance: 1: Peter Stettler (1939-1998) and Erica Stettler-Schnell (1940-2019). - Hammer Auctions, Basel. Auction 72, 17.06.2021, lot 22. - Christian Zingg (1956-2023), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. 2: Swiss private collection, Solothurn. Acquired in situ (1993). - Hammer Auctions, Basel. Auction 88, Dec. 22, 2021, lot 9. - Christian Zingg (1956-2023), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. 3: Swiss private collection, Solothurn. Acquired in situ (1993). - Hammer Auctions, Basel. Auction 88, Dec. 22, 2021, lot 13. - Christian Zingg (1956-2023), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. 4: Madeleine and Jean-Jacques Keller, Rheinfelden. - Hammer Auctions, Basel. Auction 57, Aug. 26, 2020, lot 22. - Christian Zingg (1956-2023), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. 5: Swiss private collection, Solothurn. - Hammer Auctions, Basel. Auction 88, 12/22/2021, lot 10. - Christian Zingg (1956-2023), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Flutes were used across sub-Saharan Africa in as many different ways as their forms were varied: individually or in groups, for example, as a signaling instrument, as a means of communication, for entertainment, or ritually at initiations, weddings, births, and funerals. In addition, they were status symbols, worn as jewelry, and were outward signs of the owner's affiliation. Further reading: Brown, E. (1999). Turn up the Volume. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. --------------------------------------------------------------- Homage to Christian Zingg After his studies at the University of Neuchâtel, Christian Zingg (1956-2023) embarked on a career as a mathematics and physics teacher in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The overwhelming number of his former students and colleagues who attended his funeral shows the extent to which he was appreciated as a teacher there. His interest in art and its history manifested itself in various directions: At the height of his career, he purchased the Villa Jaquemet in his hometown, built by Le Corbusier in 1908. Before that, Christian had embarked on a long journey as a collector, initially turning to ancient coins. As a scientist who wanted to get to the bottom of things, he quickly trained in reading coin inscriptions and eventually became a specialist in Roman numismatics. Among other things, he co-authored the 468-page work "Les empereurs romains," which was published in 1994 and reprinted in 2009. Due to health problems, he decided to retire early and devote himself to his family and his passions. With a marked generosity towards his relatives and friends and an always open mind to new cultural horizons, he had started in 2016 with a collection of African art that very quickly led him, in his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, to seek information from the best sources, build a library, browse museums and visit auctions and fairs, not forgetting the Puces de Lyon, where he loved to stroll in search of unique finds. His passion never left him until the last moment, not even when he was lying in bed not far from his home, wishing that his relatives would bring him some of his favorite pieces, from which he found it difficult to part. (François Mottas) ----------------------------------------------------- Peter Stettler and Erica Stettler-Schnell The collection of non-European art of Peter Stettler and Erica Stettler-Schnell comprised about 500 objects with a focus on small bronzes, thumb pianos and textiles, which they acquired mainly in Switzerland (among others at Maria Wyss in Basel) and in trade in Paris. See also "Jahrbuch z'Rieche" (zrieche.ch) for more on E. Stettler. Excerpt from "Jahrbuch z'Rieche" (zrieche.ch), author: Dorothea Christ. "Peter Stettler and Erica Stettler-Schnell." During their training period at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel (today "Schule für Gestaltung"), they were not only both students of the Riehen artist Gustav Stettler, but also grew together with him to form a family: Peter Stettler (born 1939), the son, and Erica Schnell (born 1940), the daughter-in-law. They are both proud to have been students of Walter Bodmer, Martin Christ and Gustav Stettler, whom they found to be extraordinarily stimulating teachers, and they also acknowledge in all naturalness that the influence of their teachers is clearly noticeable in their early works. Why should one overlook or even negate the fact that one stands in a tradition? .... Particularly fruitful on the path to independence were the months spent in the Basel studio of the Cité des Arts in Paris, where Stettl