African Art Club

Hei Tiki

GENEVA – They have always been known as primitive arts specialists, or even as book lovers. Now the Barbier-Mueller family presents another side of its appetite for beautiful things: jewels and ore. In this dynasty characterized for over a century by a «collecting disease», the patriarch, Joseph Mueller, is followed by his great grandson, Alexis Barbier-Mueller.

 The former acquired before WW II certain jewels presented here (Polynesian ear ornament in sperm whale tooth or a Cameroonian ivory bracelet), while the latter has headed towa rds minerals, including quartz, schist, malachite and lapis-lazuli.

 «Jewels by man» and «Jewels from the Earth» are confronted in a «contamination» practice which has been tested since the « cabinets de curiosités” and the Surrealists: crystals are side by side with Maya pendants, necklaces from Mesopotamia and head dresses from Tibet.