The Andrault Collection

ABOVE: Reliquary Guardian Figure. Shamaye; Gabon.
H. 26 cm
Andrault Collection, acquired in 1959.
To be offered by Gros & Delettrez, Paris, on 28 September 2022, est. 20,000–30,000 euros.




PARIS—Gros & Delettrez auction house will offer the Jean-Claude Andrault Collection at auction. Made up primarily of Gabonese art but also with some Congo works, the collection was put together in the 1950s and 1960s while Andrault was living in Africa. Aesthetically consistent, it is also representative of the sculptural traditions of a region of ­Africa that attracted Western interest early on.

Judging by the estimates in the sale catalogue, the collection represents the taste and inquisitive spirit of a unique personality who was ahead of his time. Dr. Andrault was a physician and a surgeon by training but was interested in all aspects of man. In addition to his medical training, he also earned degrees in ethnology from the Musée de l’Homme and attended André ­Leroy Gouhran’s courses on prehistory.

His sensitivity to the cultural aspects of objects was a hallmark of his method of collecting. He took particular care to gather and record as much information as possible—dates, places, circumstances of acquisition, and even, when possible, the names of the artists—about the masks, figurines, ornaments, and utilitarian objects that he acquired. These field notes are published in full in the sale catalogue, without any corrections to the spellings used by Andrault at the time, in the interest of preserving their authenticity.

Made up of seventy-four lots, the sale will take place on Wednesday September 28, 2022, in room 9 of the Hôtel Drouot. Charles-Edouard Delettrez will be wielding the hammer, and Bernard Dulon, assisted by Marie Duarte-Goga, has served as the consulting expert.

GROS & DELETTREZ, PARIS

ABOVE: Reliquary guardian figure. Obamba/Mindoumou; Gabon.
Wood, copper, brass. H: 55 cm.
Andrault Collection, acquired in 1958.
To be offered by Gros & Delettrez, Paris, on 28 September 2022, est. 15,000–25,000 euros.

ABOVE: Tsogho; Gabon.
Wood, iron. H: 47 cm.
Andrault Collection, acquired in 1958.
To be offered by Gros & Delettrez, Paris, on 28 September 2022, est. 1,500–2,000 euros.