African Arts Gallery

The leaders of the Cameroonian Grasslands, the Fon , reputed to hold treasures of works of art, including bracelets, necklaces, statues, bells, valued the founders and sculptors in the service of the kingdom. These productions, without which the conductor lost his prestige, aimed to magnify the role of the fon. The technique used was the cast with lost wax, the decorations varying according to the status of the recipient to whom the king wished to award a reward. The Bamoun sometimes bought works from the Tikars, who were also gifted in metalwork. From 1920, the founders no longer used exclusively for the court. Located in the border region of Nigeria, the northwestern province of Cameroon, Grassland is made up of several ethnic groups: Tikar, Anyang, Widekum, Chamba, Bamoun and Bamileke. ...

Combined with a notion of foresight, this African sculpture Sakimatwematwe (Multi-heads) forms a symbol for an insider of the Bwami. Four thick, half-flexed legs support a trunk on which clump together, separated by a central ring, twelve bleached faces whose eyes stare in opposite directions. Related to a Lega proverb, with two or more heads, this statuette would always illustrate the need for a global view of events, and therefore the prudence, wisdom and impartiality that should result from it. (Biebuyck 1973) Grainy patina. Desication cracks.
The teacher guided the aspirant to a place where masks and statuettes were exposed, and it was through careful observation that the future initiate had to guess the more or less complex meaning of these metaphors, the latter referring ...

African masks Chokwe pwo , among the many masks akishi (sing: mukishi, indicating power) of African tribal art Chokwe, are exclusively female representations that were accompanied by accessories and adornments. Joined by their male counterparts, cihongo recognizable to their large tray-shaped headdresses, the pwo must bring fertility and prosperity to the community. The characteristic motifs on the forehead, and sometimes on the cheekbones, are part of the chokwe aesthetic canons but also served as public markers of ethnic identity. This recurrent cruciform frontal pattern would also have a cosmogonic significance.
Always worn by senior-grade insiders, these women's masks were often embalmed with buttons and accessories of European origin. Pointed teeth were once a criterion for ...

This African Mask Baoulé, known as the portrait mask or Ndoma , depicts an ovoid face topped with horns and figures associated with the calao. A collar highlights the contours of the face. These portraits of the Baoulé, ndoma, which are part of one of the oldest baoulé artistic traditions and frequently represent an idealized character, have the peculiarity of manifesting themselves at the end of the entertainment dance ceremonies. The latter are named, depending on the regions, bedwo, ngblo, mblo, adjussu, etc. Each of these masks are distinguished by the hairstyles, the location and the choice of scarifications. Hot brown patina, shiny, ochre residue.
They occur during danced events accompanied by music and songs, celebrations, visits to personalities, featuring various satirical ...

This sculpted canoe features a crew of bust figures surrounding a larger effigy, wearing helmets enhanced by pigments of various colors. The hull, on which residual green and red pigments are still visible, is engraved with geometric patterns. Shard on the stern. Unknown use.
In the 13th century, the Kongo people, led by their king Ne Kongo, settled in a region at the crossroads of the borders between present-day DRC, Angola and Gabon. Two centuries later, the Portuguese came into contact with the Kongo and converted their king to Christianity. Although monarchical, the Kongo political system had a democratic aspect because the king was actually placed at the head of the kingdom following an election held by a council of tribal governors. This king, also known as ntotela, controlled ...

The female figure, shown seated, presents a spoon with a handle forming an infant's head. These ritual spoons were emblems offered to women in hospital. Heterogeneous patina, grainy, kaolin-encrusted residue, abrasions.
For the Dan of Côte d'Ivoire, also known as Yacouba, two distinct universes oppose each other: that of the village, composed of its inhabitants, its animals, and that of the forest, its vegetation and the animals and spirits that inhabit it. In order for these spirits to be established, a specific area of the forest is designated and still preserved outside the villages dan. Sacrifices are also required in order to communicate through these spirits. Gifts of women, food, festive ceremonies and honorable status once rewarded the dan sculptors to whom this talent was ...

The motfs inscribed on the face and body of this female figure depict the traditional paintings of the ethnic group, inspired by the tattoos of the nearby Asua pygmies, which varied according to the circumstances. Among the Mangbetu from an early age, upper-class children suffered a compression of the cranial box, held tight by raffia ties. Later, the hair was 'knitted' on wicker strands and a headband would enser the forehead to bring out the hair and form this majestic headdress accentuating the elongation of the skull. The ancient names beli anthropomorphic figures embodying ancestors, stored out of sight, and comparable to those belonging to their secret society nebeli . Eroded wood. Fingerprints of treated xylophages.
The Mangebetu Kingdom in northern Congo produced ...

The African art and refinement of Kuba weaving, produced in Zaire by the Shoowa, Bashoowa, a subgroup Kuba, these fabrics forming real paintings of first art, consist of a textile base in raphia on which threads are cut to the brim, forming a velvet effect accentuated by the contrasts of tone. The geometric patterns formed represent the body scarifications of the ethnic group or the decorations of the sculptures. These refined fabrics were intended to be used at the royal court, as a seat or cover, to enhance its prestige. In many cases they took the value of money, or they also followed their owners into the grave by covering the body of the deceased. It was King Shamba Bolongongo who introduced the velvet weaving technique to Kuba country in the 17th century. He had previously ...

Wearing wicker balls and prolonged with a raffia goatee, this ceremonial African mask is linked to the society of warriors and initiation rites. It was also exhibited at funerals in connection with the deceased's previous initiations, and for payment in many cases. The power of some masks was also so feared that their name alone caused women and children to flee. These masks are distinguished by their bulbous forehead, wide nose and mouth revealing cut teeth. Dark satin patina, small erosions. Living from hunting and agriculture, warrior people, the Salampasu form a tribe of the Lulua group and are settled between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, east of the Kasai River. They are surrounded to the west and south of the Tschokwe and Lunda, and to the north and east of Kete and ...

The closure systems of Sudanese regions in African art
This Dogon door or shutter, equipped with its lock, is carefully sculpted with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic bas-relief figures, and scenes evoking the rich Cosmogony Dogon. According to Dogon mythology, the first inhabitants of the Bandiagara area crossed the river on the back of a crocodile. The characters can symbolize previous generations, the mythical ancestors, but the owners of the attic are also frequently featured. The door is made up of vertical panels that are maintained by large metal staples. The motifs on the doors in Mali, apart from their decorative value, are intended to deter the intruder, whether human or animal, from entering. Locks, like doors, are cut from wood chosen according to the function of the ...

Among the many sculpted objects relating to hasse and magic, this stylized protective female statuette could represent the spirit Ngbirondo acting as guardian of the village. Funeral statues were also used, and couple sculptures yangba and sister, equivalent to the Seto and Nabo ancestors of Ngbaka. The pointed chin and the scarfication on the ridge of the nose is characteristic of the ethnicity. Thick, dark patina, lumpy and cracked.
The Ngbaka form a homogeneous people from the north-west of the R.D.C., south of Ubangui. The Ngbandi live to the east (on the left bank of the Oubangui) and the Ngombe to the south. The initiation of young people, 'gaza' or 'ganza' (which gives strength) in the Ngbaka and Ngbandi, has many similarities, through endurance tests, songs and dances. The ...

Semi-spherical mask, streaked with circular grooves, it adopts certain elements of the Songye masks of the Kifwebe, including the stretched eyelids and the geometric mouth in projection. However, it did not have the same function. This category of rather rare African masks are named 'bifwebe'. They appeared at funerals and investitures. They performed during the ritual ceremonies of the society kazanzi , charged with fighting witchcraft. " Bifwebe (Sing.: kifwebe) would mean, according to C. Faïk-Nzuji, 'chasing death'. Worn with a voluminous raffia collar that concealed the dancer, this mask was usually danced in the company of a zoomorphic mask. Patine mate. The reddish mouth wood is eroded, as is the tip of the nose. Abrasions of use.
Luba (Baluba in Tchiluba) are a people of ...

Large kaolin-coated eye sockets offer globular, ajar eyelids. Tiny ears are attached to it. The lower part of the face crowned with a crenellated headdress ends in a curved tip, characteristic of the Mbagani , from the group Mpasu now extinct, and itself a subgroup of Lulua, or Béna Lulua, and which also includes the Salampasu. They form the Ding a group of 50,000 individuals established in R.D.C. near the Angolan border. They were marked by the influence of their neighbours Lunda and former occupiers Tchokwé . Organized into small independent chiefdoms, they mainly grow maize, with women embroidering textiles woven by men. Masks would be associated with healing rites. Dark patina, mate, scattered flaking. (Black African Tribal Art, J.B.BACQUART)

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This sculpture embodies the spirit of water Kalunga, among the many spirits of nature revered by the Buyu. The female character is endowed with a head bearing the janiform heaume mask Alunga or even Echawakoba shared by the Bembé.Patine of satin use, abrasions and cracks.

Grating flows have mixed the same territories within the same territories of Bembe, Lega, Buyu (Buye) or Boyo, Binji and Bangubangu. The Bassikassingo, considered by some to be a sub-clan Buyu , are not of bembe origin although they live on their territory, as Biebuyck's work has helped to trace their history. Organized in lineages, they borrowed the association of the Bwami Lega. The traditions bembé and boyo are relatively similar They venerate the spirits of nature, water specifically among the ...

This androgynous figure of naturalistic type has an abdominal cavity in which a protective magic charge had to be inserted. The hole in the hat could also accommodate therapeutic ingredients. The feet at the disposal of the character amaze by their proportions. The beaded-encrusted pupils form a hallucinated look in relation to the psychic state. Oiled black patina, grainy, locally abraded. Desication cracks and treated xylophage marks.
The Vili, the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembé, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo were the Kôngo group, led by king ntotela. Their kingdom reached its peak in the 16th century with the ivory, copper and slave trade. The Bakongo live on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, between Zaire and the Republic of Congo. Similarly, beliefs and traditions, ...

This statuette, symbol of power, would feature the mythical ancestor founder of the ethnic group, Chibinda Ilunga wearing his impressive adornment. This type of figure, represented without the hunter's accessories, is called mwanangana (chief statue). Easily recognizable by this ample headdress with curved side fins (cipenya-mutwe), he had taught his people the art of hunting. Skate rather clear, dull, abraded. Slight cracks.
Paisiblely settled in eastern Angola until the 16th century, the Chokwé were then subjected to the Lunda empire from which they inherited a new hierarchical system and the sanctity of power. Nevertheless, the Chokwé never fully embraced these new social and political contributions. Three centuries later, they eventually seized the capital of the Lunda, ...

These primitive African statues protecting against enemies were made according to the instructions of the Nganga ngoombu and the object's sponsor. This powerful object of tribal art was then activated using rituals and incantatory formulas.
Hierarchical and authoritarian, composed of fearsome warriors, Yaka society was ruled by lineage leaders with the right to life and death over their subjects. Hunting and the prestige that ensues are an opportunity today for the Yaka to invoke ancestors and resort to rituals with the help of charms related to the institution "khosi". The initiation society of young people is the n-khanda , which is found in the Eastern Kongo (Chokwe, Luba, etc...),and which uses various charms and masks in order to ensure a vigorous lineage.
Giving a ...

Sculpture depicting a cynocephalic monkey whose hands together have a cup. There are several representations of the same type, with different names depending on the use that is made of them. They were mistakenly named Gbékré (mouse) because of Delafosse's misunderstanding of two cults (Boyer, Baulé 5Continents). Often linked to the cults Mbra of divination and possession, they belong to the group of 'force-beings' or amwin , intermediaries between God and men and given to the Baoulé by their Creator, as well as the sacred masks from which they share the wide gaping jaw. It would also be a minor deity named bark . For propitiatory purposes, these sculptures were to form the interior of the spirits to whom offerings were presented and on which libations were practiced. Real monkey skulls ...