Tribal Art

Stick surmounted by a Fang Mabea type miniature, embodying the ancestor of the clan, guardian of the reliquary boxes of the Byeri cult. Minor erosions.
Height on base: 645 cm.
The Fang ethnic group, established in a region extending from Yaoundé in Cameroon to Ogooué in Gabon, has strongly influenced the Mabea of southern Cameroon who have absorbed a large part of their rites such as so and the ngil. The reliquary statues, sculpted by the Mabea, are however generally larger than those of the Fang and adorned with various finery. The hairstyle is also very distinct, divided into shells, unlike the Fang crest. Among the Fang of Cameroon and Gabon, each family has a “Byeri”, or reliquary box, in which the bones of the ancestors are kept. The reliquary boxes were topped with a ...

Sculpted with two superimposed heads, separated by prisms engraved with linear patterns, this prestige holo stick is coated with a nuanced, shiny brown patina.
In the Democratic Congo between the Yaka and the Tchokwé of Angola, the small Holo ethnic group migrated from the Angolan coast to settle near the banks of the Kwango River. Hunting and agriculture ensure their subsistence. The neighboring ethnic groups, such as the Suku and Yaka, have influenced their traditional sculptures. The Holo indeed produced helmet masks and prestige items for the ruling elite. The Holo used sculptures to guard against the influence of evil spirits, including that of the moon and the rainbow. These statues were placed near dwellings as protection against lightning. Besides the royal biombo figures, ...

This gnarled stick, surmounted by a carved figure, was the emblem of a notable Bemba. The spherical head offers simply engraved features, the body a frontal posture, large digited hands resting on the abdomen. Golden yellow patina. The Bemba, or Bambembas, from Maniema, claim to be of Luba origin and settled on the banks of Lake Moero, near Zambia, and Lake Tanganyka. The Bemba participated in the slave trade during the 19th century by allying themselves with the slave king Msiri. Colonial policy dispersed them in the twentieth century. Their leader now rules at Kasama in Zambia. They believe in a supreme god, Lesa , worship nature spirits, Ngulu , a snake named lunga , and mythical ancestors. Their highly diverse art was influenced by that of neighboring tribes, Luba, Lunda, ...

Named Yo domolo , or Yo dyommodo, this cane is the emblem of the yona association of "thieves rituals that are sometimes found on the altars and in the sanctuaries of the binu. The stick yo domolo evokes the stylized silhouette of a horse's head. The sculpted subjects are associated with the "Nommos" of the episodes complexes of Dogon mythology. Matte light brown patina.
The Dogon are a people renowned for their cosmogony, their esotericism, their myths and legends. Their population is estimated at around 300,000 souls living in the southwest of the Niger bend in the Mopti region of Mali. The villages are often perched on top of the scree on the side of the hills, according to a unique architecture. Remains of old steelworks on the Bandiagara plateau, dating from the ...

Weapons of hunting, war, or prestige, swords, axes, spears and African command sticks are attributes of dignitaries exhibited during parades and official celebrations.
Blade whose contours are protected by narrow strips of leather, a copper element joining them around the tip. The handle of the spear is surrounded by tightly braided leather straps, its volute end carries a metal ring. The Shilluk (variant Shiluck, Chilouk) form a Nilotic people mainly established in southern Sudan, on the banks of the Nile, around Malakal, where they constitute the third largest ethnic group after the Dinka and the Nuer.

Sculpted with precision in dense wood, this prestigious stick depicting the female ancestor would intervene on human fertility, the fertility of the land, and successful hunts. The face refers to a type of mask linked to the Mukanda Mukishi wa Mwna pwo initiation ceremonies wearing the kambu ja tota ("Chokwe and Their Bantu Neighbors" Rodrigues de Areia.) Reddish patina. Abrasions.
Of Lunda origin, the Lwena, Luena, emigrated from Angola to Zaire in the 19th century, repelled by the Chokwe. When some became slave traders, others, the Lovale, found refuge in Zambia. Their society is matrilineal, exogamous and polygamous. The Lwena became known for their sculptures embodying figures of deceased ancestors and chiefs, and their masks linked to the initiation rites of the mukanda . Their ...

A figure of a horseman, sculpted in the round, surmounts the Yoruba Sango-type staff. It glorifies a deified ancestor. The equine, rare in the region, was also an attribute of prestige which was reserved for the nobility and the sovereigns. Centered on the veneration of its gods, or orisà , the Yoruba religion is based on artistic sculptures with coded messages (aroko). They are designed by the sculptors at the request of the followers, soothsayers and their clients. These spirits are supposed to intercede with the supreme god Olodumare. Chipped polychromy, semi-satin patina.
Height on base: 74 cm.
The Yoruba, more than 20 million, occupy southwestern Nigeria and the central and southeastern region of Benin under the name of Nago. They are patrilineal, practice excision and ...

Scepter with figured anthropomorphic motif sitting at the end of the stick. The lower part is made up of several sculpted sections and then extends into a point. Two-tone matte patina, slight loss Height on base: 67 cm.
The Ibibios are a people of West Africa, mainly present in the south-east of Nigeria (State of Akwa Ibom), but also in Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Secret societies are numerous among the Ibibio settled west of the Cross River. Without a centralized government, their social organization is comparable to that of the neighboring Igbo. Ancestor worship, shared by the Oron and Eket established on the right bank of the Cross River, is under the authority of the highest-ranking members of the male Ekpo (ghost) association. The presence of the uninitiated in ...

Hemba African art.
This prestigious stick has different sculpted sections forming an iconographic language relating to the history of the ancestor or that of his clan, such as the kibangos of the Lubas. The anthropomorphic effigies appearing in the round embody a singiti ancestor. Each of the subjects has a magical charge at the top.
Greyish brown satin patina. Desication cracks.
The Hemba, established in the south-east of Zaire, on the right bank of the Lualaba, were for a long time subjected to the neighboring Luba empire, which had on their culture, their religion and their art a certain influence. Ancestor worship, whose effigies have long been attributed to the Luba, is central to Hemba society. Genealogy is indeed the guarantor of privileges and the ...

Mixed with the Nalu and Landuman, the Baga live along the coasts of Guinea-Bissau in areas of swamps flooded six months a year. These Baga groups based on the coast and living from rice farming are made up of seven subgroups, including the Baga Kalum, Bulongic, Baga sitem, Baga Mandori, etc. They believe in a creative god called Nagu, Naku, which they do not represent, and which is accompanied by a male spirit whose name is Somtup. In the baga religion, except Nagu or Kanu who is the creator, an important second spiritual entity is called Somtup , the male spirit at the head of the initiation society of men. The women's association is under the direction of a-Bol, Somtup's wife. In parallel with the extinction of male initiations since the 1950s, women's societies have organized danced ...

French African art collection.
The Kongos (also known as Bakongos, which is the plural of N'Kongo in kikongo, live on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Black Point Africa, (Republic of Congo) as far south as Luanda (Angola) and as far south as Bandundu province (Democratic Republic of Congo). Superbly crafted, the Kongo Command sceptres were, among the jewels, weapons, recades and statuary, the reg regale indispensable to their status and the power of their reign. The ornaments, pictograms and effigies carved on the sticks evoked proverbs, illustrated the qualities of a chief, told, from section to section, the history of the tribe and emphasized the qualities required to rule. Objects belonging to the royal entourage also benefited from the same coded iconography. This emblem of royal ...

Named Yo domolo , or Yo dyommodo , this ritual stick is the emblem of the association yona of the "ritual thieves". Its structure is similar to that of the domolo which Dogon men carry on their shoulders and which is sometimes found on altars and in binu shrines. The cane yo domolo is however more sophisticated, the specimen opposite evokes the stylized silhouette of a horse's head, a primordial animal of creation, whose erect ears are formed of small figurines, and the end of the stick a half-open jaw. Characters are also carved in superimposition along the handle, in reference to the "Nommos" of complex episodes in Dogon mythology. According to Marcel Griaule, this object is supposed to remind the Dogons of how the primordial blacksmith acquired fire, for the good of humanity, ...