Made up of an ingenious array of overlapping and intertwining human faces, this superbly-carved War Club is the finest known example of this iconic type (estimate $180/220,000). In 1984 it was loaned by Franklin’s heirs to the landmark exhibition “Primitivism” in 20th Century Art, held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where it was displayed alongside a painting by Gauguin.

MASK, VANUATU
This rare and old Mask is an exceptional example of the small corpus of masks from the northern islands of Vanuatu (estimate $250/350,00). The ancient appearance of the deeply patinated wood contrasts with the remaining traces of blue and orange pigments.

SCULPTURE, EASTER ISLAND
Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is the most remote inhabited location on earth and is home to the mysterious world-famous stone heads known as Moai. Closely related to these Moai in style and iconography, but not as well-known, are the island’s extraordinary smaller wood sculptures.

Depicting a human head with a stoic stare, this enigmatic Wooden Sculpture is, to our knowledge, unique (estimate $300/500,000). The figure’s steadfast expression is counterbalanced by the dynamic pose of the arms, which surreally emerge from the underside of the head.

The sculpture was in the collection of legendary dealer and collector of Modern Art, Alfred Flechtheim, during the 1920s, and subsequently passed to Pierre Loeb – another pivotal figure in the history of Modern Art – who loaned it to the historic exhibition at the galerie du théâtre Pigalle in Paris in 1930. Helena Rubinstein acquired the sculpture from Loeb in the 1930s and displayed it in the fireplace of her New York City apartment.

Outside of the Rubinstein works, the collection features this Suspension Hook from the Blackwater River Region, Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea (estimate $250/350,000). Franklin acquired the monumental hook figure from the leading European promoter of African & Oceanic Art, the Parisian dealer Charles Ratton. Of great scale and extraordinary sculptural quality, the body of the hook features an ornately swirling symbolic design which invokes water.