Tribal Art

Witnesses to the traditions of the Hopi Indian peoples of Arizona, Katsinam sculpted objects (song. Kachina) are expressed during traditional dances accompanying the annual rain festivals. This Hopi-type mask presents an animal skin helmet trimmed with fur trim, feathers, raffia ribbon, dried corn cob nose. It is framed by a large panel painted with polychrome decorative motifs on each of its sides. The hues would indicate the nature of the spirit represented. The patina is matte, abrasions and small accidents.

Made by the Mbanza or Banja, cousins of the Ngbaka in Ubangi, this sculpted human figure has a face framed by very large ears encompassing the arches and the jaw. Its functions are similar to those of the Ngbaka, as part of therapeutic rites or in preparation for hunting. Abrasions.
The Ubangian crucible has produced many statuettes that share certain similarities, such as a heart-shaped face, as in the Ogooué River region in Gabon. The Ngbaka form a homogeneous people from the northwest of the D.R.C., south of Ubangui. The Ngandi live in the east and the Ngombe in the south. Ref : "Art of Sub-saharan Africa" C. Mullen Kreamer.

Songye hermaphrodite statue remarkable for the majesty of the head carriage on a stretched, ringed neck, the discreet expressiveness of the features, the rectilinear bust. Lighter, the base must have originally been hidden under a textile. Glossy mahogany patina. Good general condition.
The Songye fetish, magical sculpture Nkisi , nkishi (pl. mankishi), plays the role of mediator between gods and men. In the 16th century, the Songyes migrated from the Shaba region to settle in Kasai, Katanga and South Kivu. Their history is inseparable from that of the Luba to whom they are related through common ancestors. Very present in their society, divination made it possible to discover sorcerers and to shed light on the causes of the misfortunes which struck individuals.
Lit. : "The ...

The African art of Benin, a court art closely associated with King Oba, dates back to the 14th century. The many bronze alloy heads and statues created by the artists of Benin were reserved for the exclusive use of the inhabitants of the royal palace and placed on altars consecrated by each new Oba. This late, figurative sculpture, reminiscent of those made on the death of sovereigns, also reproduces the "masks-belt pendants" in ivory. The fine-featured face is adorned with elements reproducing the coral bead necklaces and ornaments of the Obas of Benin. This would be Queen Benin named Iyoba Idia.
After the birth of the future king, the queen was "removed" from power and could no longer father. But at the end of the 15th century the Oba Esigie refused to conform to this practice ...

Prestigious sculptures in the African art of Mali
This wooden sculpture depicts an indeterminate animal on which is perched a subject treated in a very schematic way. According to Gabriel Massa, only wealthy people can order this type of prestigious, rare sculpture from the blacksmith, intended for individual worship.
Old grainy patina, and desication cracks.
The frequent representations of riders among the Dogon of Mali refer to their cosmogony and their complex religious myths. Indeed, one of the Nommos, ancestors of men, resuscitated by the creator god Amma, descended to earth carried by an ark transformed into a horse. In addition, the highest authority of the Dogon people, the religious leader named Hogon, paraded on his mount during his enthronement because ...

Anthropomorphic figure in bronze evoking a young Mossi woman. A ritual statuette supposed to help in conception, it was made in metal by the Mossi blacksmith, who was also in charge of the carved wooden examples. The use of dolls by young African women is not exclusively within the context of initiation. When menstruation appears, the young girl is considered as a potential mother. In many ethnic groups, the search for fertility is then done through initiation rites. Wooden figures are then carved, some reflecting both genders, often dressed in beads and clothes. During the period of seclusion, the doll, which becomes a child that requires daily feeding, washing and anointing, becomes the girl's only companion. After the initiation, they will be carried on the back of the women, or ...

Semi-spherical, crossed by an excrescence joining the orifice of the mouth and whose upper end is divided into antennae, this zoomorphic mask is hollowed out with circular eyes with perforated contours. Ears are sketched in height on either side of the pupils, while linear scarifications are drawn locally. Soft black satin patina, chipped areas, abrasions and desication cracks.
Height on base: 37 cm. The Ogoni live along the coasts of Nigeria, near the mouth of the Cross-River, south of the Igbo and west of the Ibibio. Their carvings vary from village to village, but are mainly renowned for their hinged-jaw masks like some Ekpo Ibibio masks. Their masks were usually worn at funerals, festivities accompanying plantings and harvests, but also more recently to welcome distinguished ...

Kota pipe, old, with an arched handle, embellished with different metal sections. The Bakota inhabit the eastern part of Gabon, which is rich in iron ore, and some in the Republic of Congo. The blacksmith, in addition to wood carving, made tools for agricultural work as well as ritual weapons.

This rare dignitary's headdress was carefully made in basketry, adorned with human hair and lined with braided raffia plaits. It is worn during enthronement ceremonies accompanied by traditional dances within the kingdom of Oku, in the northwest of Cameroon, in the Grasslands region at the border region of Nigeria. This chiefdom is populated mainly by two ethnic groups: nomadic pastoralists 'Fulani' and semi-Bantu farmers 'Nso, Oku and Kom'. The kingdom of Oku is renowned for the diversity of its religious production, its magical and therapeutic rites practiced by soothsayers and sorcerers.

Spectacular large sculptures forming a male and female couple associated with the Ci Wara Bambara, Bamana, or "wild beasts of the earth" antelopes.
Matte brown patina. Good general condition.
Established in central and southern Mali, the Bambara, "Bamana" or "unbelievers", as Muslims have called them, belong to the large Mande group, like the Soninke and the Malinke. Sculpted by the blacksmith numu, also playing the role of soothsayer and healer, this crest embodies the animal - genius Ciwara who is said to have taught the Bambara to cultivate the land. Worn on the top of the head and held in place by a basketry hat, these crests accompanied the dancers during the rituals of the tòn, an association dedicated to agricultural work. The masks roamed the field by leaping in order ...

This statue fragment, an African head singiti hemba, carved by the bwana mutombo, presents a haughty character proper to Hemba statuary. The frame of the face is enhanced by a fine tiara and a chiselled beard collar. Usually made of iroko, these objects were revered by a particular clan and stored in burial chambers in the chief's house.
Grainy light brown patina. Erosions and cracks.
Height on base: 42 cm.
The Hemba have long been subject to the neighboring Luba empire, which has had a certain influence on their culture, their religion and their art. Ancestor worship is central to Hemba society. Genealogy is indeed the guarantor of privileges and the distribution of land. All aspects of the community are imbued with the authority of the ancestors. Thus, these are ...

This African mask offers concentrated features under a vast forehead that a protruding scarification divides vertically, a particularity of the zone located between the Guro and the Bété. A braided beard, highlighted with a necklace of glass beads, extends the chin. This mask, whose function remains poorly documented, would symbolize masculine strength, and perhaps also a powerful notable named "migone". Glossy and abraded patina, gritty residual pigment at the top.
Height on base: 49 cm.
The Bété form a tribe established on the left bank of the Sassandra River in the south-west of the Ivory Coast. Close to the Kouya and the Niabwa, the making of their masks, as well as their function, offer great similarities.

"Guro" ed. 5Continents.

Italian African tribal art collection.
An angular forehead punctuates the diamond hairstyle of this African Lwalwa mask. The gaze is pierced with rectangles in a subtly concave face and the mouth projects under the powerful nose. The Mfondo and Nkaki masks, with their barely dissimilar nasal profile, are difficult to distinguish, but the Mfondo would have a nose reminiscent of a hornbill beak.
Reddish brown patina often from berries (Bixa orellana). Orange highlights. Indigenous restoration at the top. Desication cracks.
The Lwalwa live near the Kasai River, between Angola and Zaire. Historically having a matrilineal society, the Lwalwa after having been influenced by Luba and Songye, adopted a patrilineal system within their rudimentary political and social ...

Ex-collection of African tribal art from Belgium.
A face with metal-rimmed pupils and a carefully crafted hairstyle for this large African so-called "racing" mask. The chin is lined with bells and sachets of various ingredients. Height on base: 65 cm.
Masks equipped with round orbits (gunye ge), facilitating vision, are part of the set of northern Dan masks and are used for racing events during the dry season. The zapkei ge, also equipped with circular orbits, are responsible for preventing fires by watching over domestic fires. Among the Dan, or Yacouba, living in the west of the Ivory Coast and in Liberia, the "dü" force which would animate the world would manifest itself in the sculpted masks. According to the Dan, the spirits indicate how to name the mask they wish to ...

This African mask of the Nzebi type, a beautiful object of African art with reduced dimensions, is characterized by its fine lines and the vertical distribution of its colored areas. Embodying a spirit of nature or an ancestor, he was supposed to facilitate access to the supernatural world in order to guarantee the benevolence of the reigning powers, according to the group, on the afterlife.
Grainy surface, erosions.
Originally from the Ogooué region, the Nzebi or Bandjabis settled in southern Gabon and in the Republic of Congo around Mayoko, a region rich in iron ore. The Bwiti, Mwiri, and Ndjobi form their main secret societies.

The African art sculptures of the Bobo, Bwa, Kurumba and Mossi, living in Burkina Faso, frequently take up and combine stylized elements borrowed from men, animals or even insects. In the center of the hollowed-out pupils, surmounting a zoomorphic mouth, runs the sinuous figure of a serpent. The decorative motifs traced on the contours of the mask are inspired by traditional scarifications. Chipped matte patina.
Mossi masks are an embodiment of ministering spirits offering their support. They perform at burials, funerals of clan chiefs, protect crops. Their appearance is now frequent during entertainment shows. Upper Volta, Burkina Faso since independence, is made up of the descendants of the Nakomse invaders, horsemen from Ghana, and the Tengabibisi, descendants of the natives. ...

Despite a face with somewhat zoomorphic details enlivened by large pupils, this Mumuye statue, of an unusual figurative style, stands out for its frail and graceful adolescent morphology. Two-tone satin patina, abrasions and gaps.
The statuary emanating from the north-west region of middle Benoué, from the Kona Jukun, to the Mumuye and up to the Wurkun populations is distinguished by a relative absence of ornamentation and a refined stylization. The 100,000 Adamawa language speakers form a group called Mumuye and are grouped into villages divided into two groups: those of fire (tjokwa) relating to blood and the color red, guardians of the vabong cult and those of water (tjozoza ), linked to humidity and white color. Their iagalagana statues were stored in a box, tsafi, reserved ...

French African art collection.
Intriguing fetishes that are Songye sculptures...the only accessories with which this ritual statue is equipped consist of a thin tie girdling the hips and a skin coil around the ringed neck. The kifwebe mask of the Bwadi ka bifwebe society appears here in a janiform appearance.
Satin patina, locally glossed, cracks.
The fetish Songye , magical sculpture Nkisi , nkishi (pl. mankishi ) , plays the role of mediator between gods and men. If the large specimens are the collective property of a whole village, the more modest figures belong to an individual or a family. In the 16th century, the Songyes migrated from the Shaba region to settle in Kasai, Katanga and South Kivu. Their society is organized in a patriarchal manner. ...

The raised arms of this Dogon tribal statuette would constitute a gesture of contrition following an original fault or even a call for rain.
The irregular surface is grainy, locally flaking, abrasions and desiccation cracks.

The south of the plateau dominating the Bandiagara cliff has been occupied since the 10th century by the Tellem and the Niongom. They were then displaced by the Dogon in the 15th century, who fled the Mandé. The Tellem became the ancestors of the Kurumba of Burkina Faso. Dogon statuary is not easily distinguished from that of the Tellem and nor from that of the Niongom because reciprocal influences have manifested themselves over the centuries . A recurrence: the characters with arms raised above their heads, in an invocation position, which would be an ...

Topped with a high flat crest, this African Dogon mask is one of the many stylistic variations of Dogon masks, icons of Dogon tribal art. Angular features, eyes hollowed out in a triangle, thin protruding lips, and a protrusion extending the nose, characterize this mask carved in a dense wood, with a grainy surface. Polychrome crusty patina with local flaking. The Dogon are a people renowned for their cosmogony, their esotericism, their myths and legends. Their population is estimated at about 300,000 souls living southwest of the Niger loop in the Mopti region of Mali (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (northwest of Ouahigouya). The villages are often perched on the top of scree on the side of hills, according to a unique architecture. The ...

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A serene softness distinguishes the Punu masks. The latter, wearing braids gathered in a shell and encircled with a hood, offers delicately drawn eyebrows highlighting bulbous, half-closed eyelids and prominent lips lifted with red ocher. Velvety matte patina, abrasions.br>