Tribal Art

Veranda pillar composed of carved figures: a mother figure embodying one of the many female goddesses, the earth goddess Onilé ("owner of the House"), guarantor of longevity, peace, and resources, and linked to the powerful Ogboni society among theYoruba Egba and Ijebu. She could also symbolize Orunmila, goddess of divination. She is revered by members of the powerful Ogboni, or Osugbo, Justice Society. The lower figure evokes Esu, or Eshu.
Polychrome patina, erosions.
The kingdoms of Oyo and Ijebu arose following the disappearance of the Ifé civilization and are still the basis of the political structure of the Yoruba . The Oyo created two cults centered on the Egungun and Sango societies, still active, who venerate their gods, the Orisa, through ceremonies appeal to masks, ...

Architectural decoration in African art associated with Yoruba culture.
Among the Yoruba, public temples, altars or chiefs' huts are blessed with lintels, doors and carved pillars, decorative sculptures dedicated to the mythical gods "orisa" and supposed to attract their blessings. This post is carved with a female motif and a character who appears to be playing the flute. A polychrome mat coating highlights the different elements of the sculpture. Erosions.
Centered on the veneration of its gods, or orisà , the Yoruba religion is indeed based on artistic sculptures endowed with coded messages ( aroko ). They are designed by sculptors at the request of followers, diviners and their clients. These spirits are believed to intercede with the supreme god ...

Pair of Berber pillars surmounted by T-shaped capitals. They are mounted on flat metal bases. Decorative patterns carved into the wood separate different sections. The surface is painted with traditional Amazigh motifs, arabesques and friezes. Use patina, desication cracks.
In the Sahara, the Tuareg-speaking Berbers live in the center and south, in Algeria, Libya, Niger, Chad, Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, while the Arabic-speaking Moors are established in the western Sahara, in Mauritania, in Mali, and in western Algeria. They lead a nomadic life, raising goats, sheep and dromedaries ensuring their subsistence.
Similar copies in "African art from the Mack collection" ed. Hirmer (p. ...

Post for supporting a toguna hut, a Dogon architectural element made of hard, dense and heavy wood, with a patina of use.
The fork is wide open, a female figure and a lizard are carved in high relief.
The base is badly eroded where it was deeply embedded in the ground.
The toguna ("men's shelter") is the place where the men meet to discuss village affairs; it is also a community place where the word of the elders is the law. There may be a central toguna in the village, but also other small secondary toguna in the neighborhood. This open shelter is generally made up of eight pillars that support beams, themselves covered with eight layers of straw tied into bundles. These eight levels, as well as the eight pillars, refer to the eight ancestral nommo at the origin of ...

The court art of the chiefdoms of north-west Cameroon is illustrated by prestigious objects such as thrones, statues, beds, ceremonial pipes, box poles.... The style of these sculpted frames is representative of the productions of the peripheral groups, in this case the Mambila. The stylized anthropomorphic, almost geometric motifs are repeated vertically and make up a symbolic language known to the initiates of secret societies abounding throughout the region.
Despite their small number, the thirty thousand Mambila (or Mambilla, Mambere, Nor, Torbi, Lagubi, Tagbo, Tongbo, Bang, Ble, Juli, Bea) (the men, in fulani), installed in the north-west of Cameroon, have created a large number of masks and statues easily identifiable by their heart-shaped faces. Although the Mambila believe ...