Tribal Art

Belgian African art collection.
Represented in a crouching position on the stove of a water pipe made up of a gourd, this female figure luba, a spiritual medium, has an ovoid face with a meditative appearance. The object is lined with twisted copper wires. The headdress, behind a wide headband that reveals a shaved forehead evokes the hairstyles of Luba women at the beginning of the 20th century. The symbolic gesture, with hands placed on the chest, indicates that the secrets of royalty (the bizila) belong to women through their role as political and spiritual intermediaries.
T beautiful oiled patina with satin highlights.
Seed smoking, which was widely cultivated in the region, was widespread among the Luba for its therapeutic properties and social use. But medicinal or ...

Ex Dutch tribal art collection.
This time in the form of a circular tray with a long handle, this African coin would be associated with the prestige of Tikar chiefs. The handle is decorated with scrolls and spiral metal strips, the patina having adopted a beige tone shaded with rust oxidation. The Tikar inhabit the western part of central Cameroon which is located within the dense secondary mid-altitude forest along the Mbam. Within this ecotone, the "Tikar plain" (named after its occupants) constitutes a depression that backs up respectively to the west and north to the Mbam massif (and its Mapé and Kim tributaries) and the first foothills of the Adamaoua plateau. The structure of the kingdom consists of a large chiefdom subdivided into quarters: the residences of the queens, the ...

African art and iron work among the Kuba
Severy tribes make up the Kuba group, established between the Sankuru and Kasai rivers: Bushoong, Ngeendé, Binji, Wongo, Kété, etc. Each of them has produced a variety of sculptures, statues, prestigious objects, masks, frequently decorated with geometric patterns.
The Kuba, whose name means " flash " also produced African tools and weapons, including jet knives, which later became transaction values, and heavy swords of war, Ilwoon .
Attribut, the Ikula knife (" of the peace,") is not a weapon but a symbol of social status. This symbol of authority was very little sharpened. The Kuba blacksmiths were able to draw inspiration from the knives of Benin, whose shape is similar, introduced by the Dutch. It was following a royal decree ...

Aesthetics of the everyday for the African art of Ivory Coast.
In Ivory Coast,the objects a priori the most ordinary had to answer criteria of aesthetic order. Furniture, ornaments, utensils, fabrics, are pretext for a refined artistic expression on the part of the sculptors.
The technique of cotton weaving spread to West Africa thanks to the movements of the Dioulas. Before colonization, textiles made of cotton fiber, the latter described as "white gold", were also used as currency. Prestigious ornaments, the woven ceremonial loincloths, sometimes in large numbers, accompanied the chiefs to their graves, among the Kuba, but also among the Baule.
This is a heald pulley stirrup decorated with a janiform sculpted motif. The piece is decorated with geometrical ...

Execution knives are also parade weapons, such as ngulu. In the north-west of Zaire, south of Oubangui, live the 6000 Moswea-Ngombe of Bantu language. Their neighbours are the Ngbandi and the Ngbaka and various groups banda . They knew no god but expected favors from their ancestors, including health and prosperity. Their jet knives used for hunting were used as coins.
For info: .http://www.memoire-africaine.com/armes3.html

Monumental sculpture of African art from the Yoruba region. Lidded vessels, adorned with a variety of subjects, are superimposed above figures of caryatids framing a central, seated figure. The human figures, evocations of fertility, ancestors, and orisa spirits, were carved in the round while bas-relief motifs adorn the walls of the central rectangular bowl. The various scenes refer to Yoruba mythology. Faded polychromy, matt patina, minimal cracks and abrasions. Centered on the veneration of its gods, or orisà, Yoruba religion relies on artistic sculptures with coded messages ( aroko ). These spirits are believed to intercede with the supreme god Olodumare . The cups are intended for votive offerings, gifts for visitors, or for divination. Sculptures of this type decorated ...

This ladder allowed access to the mil dogon attics, earth architectures distinguished by a conical straw roof. These attics are fitted at a height of an opening blocked by a shutter and allow the seeds to be stored away from rodents and insects.
Tly beautiful heterogeneous patina mate, abrased by use. Desication cracks.
The Dogon people is renowned in African art for myths and beliefs relating to its cosmogony. Its population is estimated at about 300,000 souls living southwest of the Niger Loop in mali's Mopti region (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (northwest of Ouahigouya). They produce more than 80 types of masks, the best known of which are the Kanaga, Sirigé, Satimbé, Walu. Most of them are used by the circumcised initiates of the Awa ...

Ex-collection Belgian African art.
This knife with double-edged blades is fitted with a handle sheathed with animal fur, more precisely. A weapon of combat and prestige, it could also form an accessory appreciated during danced ritual ceremonies.
odies referred to as Niam-Niam because they are considered anthropophages, the tribes grouped under the name Zande, Azandé, settled from Chad on the border of the R.D.C. (Zaire), Sudan and the Central African Republic. According to their beliefs, man is endowed with two souls, one of whom turns into a totem animal of the clan to which he belongs. The African tribal art of the Zande, or those who own a lot of land, apart from their court art consisting of spoons, receptable pipes and harps, counts two types of statues: The Kudu statues ...

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, ...

Among the prestigious objects of everyday life, this palm wine cup also features a posterior handle on which a face is also engraved. The base of the object is damaged, as are the edges of the cut. Like their Kuba vosins, the Leles have a wide variety of ceremonial sculptures, used during divination rites, pacts, ritual ceremonies.
Belle glossy black-brown patina.br-pThe Kuba are renowned for the refinement of prestige objects created for members of the high ranks of their society. Several Kuba groups produced anthropomorphic objects with refined motifs, including cuts, drinking horns and cups. The Leles are established in the west of the Kuba Kingdom, at the confluence of the Kasai and Bashilele rivers.Intercultural exchanges between the Bushoong of Kuba territory and the Leles ...

The handle of this object features a female figure in a bust, eyes closed, and arms folded behind the back. In the "geste Kongo" published by the Dapper Museum, the author states that this attitude of concentration is adopted in the face of the prophet or the nganga in order to solve a problem. A crusty rust formed on the blade of the sword.
The Vili, the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembé, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kongo formed the group Kôngo, led by King ntotela. Their kingdom reached its apogee in the 16th century with the ivory, copper and slave trade. Similarly beliefs and traditions, they produced a statuary with a codified gesture in relation to their worldview. The sorcerers nganga, both healers, were in charge of religious activities and mediation with the God ...

Like the Yaka group, the lineage chief Suku surrounded himself with prestigious objects, while the soothsayer Mwana-Ngombo used a figurative gong, such as this slot drum whose cylindrical sounding board is surmounted by a handful composed of an antelope's head. The object was intended for healing and divinatory rituals, and ingredients were also mixed for medicinal use. Beautiful satiny golden brown patina. Cracks and xylophageal prints.
The ethnic groups Suku and Yaka , very close geographically in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have the same social and political structure as well as similar cultural practices. Their sculpted works can only be differentiated by their stylistic variations. Hierarchical and authoritarian, composed of fearsome warriors, Yaka ...

Large families kept portable altars made from pieces of metal in a room in the house reserved for this purpose. Known as Asen, these sticks were created for each ancestor, serving as intermediaries between the worlds of the living and the world of the dead. Prayers and offerings were performed during a ceremony called ahanbiba during the dry season. During complex funeral ceremonies, an Asen was dedicated to an ancestor and sacrifices were dedicated to him throughout the year.

Fed of a central axis that was in the ground, ten metal tubes support a circular platform on which a stage takes place. The central figure, which usually represents the deceased, sits on a throne, and a kneeling subject presents him with an offering. All around hang different shapes, including bells, and ...

The Ikula knife (peace knife) is not a weapon but a symbol of social status. This symbol of authority was very little sharpened. The Kuba blacksmiths were able to draw inspiration from the knives of Benin, whose shape is similar, introduced by the Dutch. It was following a royal decree that wooden knives appeared, the king forbidding iron on full moon nights.
The handle is made of metal, the shared blade of an embossed rib engraved with criss-cross lines adopts an unusual shape of an inverted pear. The holes on the blade would be associated with the number of wives of its holder.

Severy tribes make up the Kuba group, established between the Sankuru and Kasai rivers: Bushoong, Ngeendé, Binji, Wongo, Kété, etc. Each of them has produced a variety of sculptures, statues, ...

Named musaw among the neighbouring Yaka, the mikkumu-neck-supports incorporated regalia sculptures of the ligagne chiefs. Often zoomorphic subjects, these pieces of furniture were intended to support elaborate headdresses and protective charms were frequently attached. The object consists of a round-bump figure on which the curved seat rests. The antelope forms one of the animal subjects also towering at the top of the heaume masks 'hemba' Suku. It refers to the qualities of the savannah animal.
Black brown, glossy on the support, and locally abraded.
The ethnic groups Suku and Yaka recognize common origins and have the same social structure as well as similar cultural practices. They can only be differentiated by their stylistic variations. The mukanda is the name given to ...

The Kuba of the Democratic Republic of Congo, made up of the Bushoong, Ngeendé, Binji, Wongo, Kété tribes, etc. established between the Sankuru and Kasai rivers, stood out for their sophisticated royal art and variety. For the past century, this creative people has provided many remarkable pieces to museums and collectors in Europe and America. The Kuba are made up of eighteen groups, including the dominant Bushoong who were at the origin of the Kuba kingdom ruled by the Nyim king in the 16th century. Each clan has produced a variety of sculptures, statues, prestigious objects, masks, frequently decorated with geometric patterns.
The Kuba, whose name means " flash " also produced African tools and weapons, including jet knives, which later became transaction values, and heavy ...

This knife, with a curved blade, has an elegant cephalomorphic pattern. The base of the neck is surrounded by a copper sheet. In the Mangbetu from an early age, upper-class children were compressed from the cranial box, which was kept tight by raffia bonds. Later, the hair was \

This scepter, decorated with miniature female and male faces, has different sculpted sections. It is also engraved with Orange motifs. Dark brown satin patina. Very slight cracks.

The Hemba, established in southeastern Zaire, on the right bank of the Lualaba, have long been subject to the luba neighbour who had a definite influence on their culture, religion and art. The cult of ancestors, whose effigies have long been attributed to the Luba, is central to the society hemba. Genealogy is indeed the guarantor of the privileges and distribution of land. All aspects of the community are imbued with the authority of the ancestors. Thus, they are considered to have an influence on justice, medicine, law and sacrifices. The statues singiti were kept by the fumu mwalo and honoured ...

The ritual consumption of palm wine in an individual cup, Kopa , Koopha , was the prerogative of the lineage officer or the supreme matrilineal leader at certain ceremonies, such as a wedding. It was then passed on to the next generation. This wide cut has signs of use and erosion. It incorporated the treasure of the regale, prestigious objects symbolizing the status and reserved for the chiefdom. Faces carved in relief adorn the outer walls of the object. Similar models named koopha were used by the Yaka (Fig.6 p.17 in "Yaka" ed. 5Continents. ) The Suku and Yaka ethnic groups, established in an area between the Kwango and Kwilu rivers in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, identify themselves as common origins and have similar social structures and cultural practices. The ...

African art and Yoruba statuary.

This divination cup consisting of five compartments, including a circular in the centre, is reserved for the Ifa divination cult, created by the Oyo of Nigeria and in connection with the societies Egungun and Sango.
It contained the divination material of the Ifa priest, including kola nuts. Allegorical sculptures embossed around its lid and on its base are scenes that depict priests or followers of Shango, the god of thunder.
Some brandish dance sticks, oshe shango, and fly-hunters, royal emblems, others present an offering box. The god Eshu , a deity mainly linked to communication, messenger between men and spirits and whose phallic headdress is recognizable, is also included.
From this orisha, one of the gods of the Yoruba ...