Mukudj (Mask)

Acquired by Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (1903-1983), Saltwood Castle, Kent, England, mid-19th century [1];

By descent to his son, Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (1928-1999), Saltwood Castle, Kent, England, by 1977;

Purchased at his sale, American Indian, pre-Columbian, Oceanic and African art, Sotheby's, London, July 12, 1977, lot 161, by Hubert Goldet (1945-2000), Paris, France, 1977-2000;

Sold at his posthumous sale, Arts primitifs. Collection Hubert Goldet, François de Ricqlès, Paris, June 30-July 1, 2001, lot 278, by an unknown buyer, 2001;

Scorpio Collection, by 2003 and until 2004 [2];

Purchased from sale, Arts Primitifs, Calmels Cohen, Paris, June 10-11, 2004, lot 19, through Marc Leo Felix, by Adele (1932-2013) and Donald (1928-2024) Hall, Kansas City, MO, 2004-2024;

Their gift, through the Donald J. Hall Revocable Trust, to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2025 [3].

NOTES:

[1] In Marie-Therese Brincard and Christian Duponcheel's 1980 exhibition catalogue Masterpieces of the People's Republic of the Congo, they indicate that the object was "obtained mid 19th century." While this does not square well with Sir Kenneth Clark's life dates, it is an assertion that is replicated in the 2004 Calmels Cohen auction catalogue, in which this object sold as lot 19. It states that the work was acquired by Clark in the middle of the 19th century ("acquis au milieu du 19e siècle"). André Fourquet's article "Chefs d'Œuvre de l'Afrique: les masques Pounou" in the April 1982 edition of L'œil describes the mask as having been brought from Gabon in the second half of the 19th century with no mention of Clark being involved in that acquisition ("Cet admirable masque Pounou a été ramené du Gabon au cours de la deuxième moitié du XIXe siècle"). It can be said, with more certainty, that the mask was in Sir Clark's possession by 1945 as he loaned it to the Berkeley Galleries exhibition Art of Primitive Peoples of that year.

[2] The 2003 exhibition catalogue edited by Ezio Bassani titled Africa: Capolovari da un continente features the Punu mask as being in the "Collezione Scorpio."

 [3] Prior to being formally accessioned into the collection, the object was a promised gift made by the Hall family in 2009 in honor of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's 75th anniversary.