Knife

Comte Baudouin de Grunne (1917-2011), Brussels, Belgium [1];

Acquired from the Comte de Grunne, by exchange, by Joseph Henrion (1936-1983), Brussels, Belgium, by 1983 [2];

Private collection, Belgium [3];

With Marc Leo Félix, Brussels, Belgium, no. FX 97667, by November 1997 [4];

Purchased from Félix by Donald (1927-2007) and Sally (1930-2017) Tranin, Kansas City, MO, December 11, 1997;

By descent to their son, Ed Tranin, Leawood, KS, and their daughter, Laura Tranin, Seattle, WA, by 2013;

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2013.

NOTES:

[1] Provenance from Comte Baudouin de Grunne to Marc Leo Felix is according to documentation provided by Félix at the time of the object’s purchase, NAMA curatorial files. According to Comte de Grunne’s son, Bernard de Grunne, in email correspondence with MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, September 29, 2022, NAMA curatorial files, his father was a friend of Joseph Henrion but Bernard de Grunne cannot recall any exchanges between them, nor does he have a recollection of this knife having been in his father’s collection. According to Jean G. Fritts, Sotheby’s, in the catalogue introduction to The Baudouin de Grunne Collection of African Art auction, Sotheby’s New York, May 19, 2000, Comte Baudouin de Grunne acquired most of his collection between 1965 and 1980 from European dealers and collectors.

[2] Joseph Henrion was a Belgian artist whose sculptural work was influenced by African objects.

[3] According to Félix (see note 1). The identity of this collection is currently unknown.

[4] Félix’s stock number is written on the side of the object.