Marcel Fleischmann, Zurich
Private Collection, New Jersey, by descent from the above
Thence by descent to the present owner

Good condition overall, with wear consistent with age and use within the traditional context. Open crack running diagonally to the proper right front of the base, as visible in the catalogue illustration. A crack between the breasts. Some minor chips, nicks, and scratches in places. Fine reddish brown to blackish brown patina, very encrusted in places, particularly the breasts and back.
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.

Marcel Fleischmann was a Swiss grain merchant who became a dealer of Modern art in the 1920s. Fleischmann “reveled in his patronage of emerging artists and writers, furnishing his home with an impressive library and contemporary works of art” (Pugliese 2009: 131), as well as a small collection of African sculpture, including this refined little Kongo figure.

Fleischmann lent works by Picasso to a number of important exhibtions in the 1930s, including the major 1932 retrospective at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris, directed at the time by Georges Keller, who, like so many figures in avant-garde circles, was a collector of African and Oceanic art. Fleischmann was one of a small number of European lenders to the first American Picasso retrospective, Picasso: Forty Years of His Art, held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1939 - 1940. After the exhibition the museum bought from Fleischmann Picasso’s Ma Jolie, an analytical cubist work of 1911-1912 (inv. no. “176.1945”). Fleischmann had acquired the painting from Paul Gu𝐆illaume by 1929, and with his avant-garde connections it seems probable that he bought his African objects at around the same time.