African Arts Gallery

This African mask of the ntomo, an initiatory society of uncircumcised young people widespread in the Niger River region, is considered a male mask, given its six horns.
Most of these masks are coated with a calcined charcoal powder. This mask mainly appears in the harvest season. This piece is particularly distinguished by its animal crest associated with the mythical antelope ci wara and its cowrie inlays. Dark oiled, matte patina.
Minimal abrasions and cracks.
Established in central and southern Mali, in a savannah zone, the Bambara, "Bamana" or "unbelievers", as the Muslims have named them, belong to the large Mande group, with the Soninke and the Malinke. Mainly farmers, but also breeders, they make up the largest ethnic group in Mali. Animists, they believe ...

Widespread in Central Africa, this traditional African musical instrument or sanza is made up of a wooden resonance board, flared in shape, on which nine blades have been fixed. parallels of varying lengths. Sometimes in bamboo, here they are in metal.
The thumbs of both hands will rest on the board to vibrate the front ends of the tabs.
In Zaire however, where all the fingers are used as for the piano, groups of instruments play on complementary registers. The instrument will also sometimes accompany a singer.
This sanza is sculpted with a face according to the Chokwe aesthetic canons, associated with the protective power of the ancestors.
Height on base: 38cm.

This Zande sculpture, with a vaguely animal appearance, is characterized by its ovoid head, topped with a tuft of feathers, and offering minimalist features framed by large rhombic ears. The bust bears small stylized arms surmounting a protuberant abdomen. Parallel incisions would refer to traditional scarifications. Grainy reddish-brown, powdery patina, erosions.
African art has two types of Azande statues: The Kudu statues, which are between 30 and 50 cm high, represent ancestors, and the Yanda statues of 10 to 20 cm, in animal or human form, having an apotropaic role, exhibited during the divinatory rites during the rituals of the Mani society. Formerly referred to as "Niam-Niam" because they were considered cannibals, the tribes grouped under the name of Zande, Azandé, ...

Sculpted stool that can be used as a pedestal table, with a very beautiful patina of use, glossy, on the seat. A naturalist character, devoid of arms, forms the support. A circular base takes up the volume of the upper top.
Cracks and abrasions.
In the 13th century, the Kongo people, led by their king Ne Kongo, settled in a region at the crossroads of the borders between the current 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 governors of the tribes. This king, also called ntotela, controlled the appointment of ...

The Beembé are appreciated in African art for the care and finishing given to the sculptures of ancestors.
Couple of statues figured side by side. Intricate keloid tattoos are drawn in relief from the chest to the pubis. These scarifications bear witness to the successive stages of initiation to which an individual has been subjected. Sometimes set with ivory or earthenware, the almond-shaped eyes are encrusted with horn. This type of sculpture formed a support intended for the rituals of the Lemba society, with a view to healing for example. Golden satin patina, dark highlights, deep erosions.
Established on the plateaus of the People's Republic of Congo ex.Brazzaville, and not to be confused with the Bembe group of northern Lake Tanganinyika, the small Babembé group, ...

African mask offering a spherical head separated by large eyelids from the narrow plane of the cheeks. The streaks are printed here in alternating directions, reinforcing the volumes. The term Kifwebe designates the mask, the society of masks, and the wearer of the mask belonging to the male secret society bwadi bwa kifwebe which ensured the social control. Matt patina. Small chips and cracks.
In the 16th century, the Songyes migrated from the Shaba region to settle on the left bank of the Lualaba, in Katanga and Kasaï. Very present in their society, divination made it possible to discover sorcerers and to shed light on the causes of the misfortunes that struck individuals. The masked performances of male masks provided an opportunity to carry out punitive expeditions and ...

African Art Makonde.
Fetish horn from which emerges a sculpted head evoking lipoko and lipico masks. Huge ears frame the realism of expressive features. What takes the place of a bust is wrapped in woven fibers, twisted copper wires, and finally animal skin. The whole is coated with a black patina. Height on base: 51 cm.

The Makonde of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania wore helmet masks called lipiko during initiation ceremonies for young people. The Makonde venerate an ancestor, which explains the abundance of naturalistic female statuary. Besides the face masks worn during mapiko dances and ngoma ceremonies that educate young people about the demands of marriage and family life. the Makonde also produce body masks featuring the female bust. For the Makonde, ...

The Baoulé in African art.
This entertaining African mask is surmounted by braids gathered in shells like a tiara. The eyelids are coated with white pigments. The face is bordered by a trim with geometric patterns and extended by an outgrowth evoking a beard. Traditional raised scars are called ngole. . Object carved in dense wood. Brown, black and reddish brown patina, kaolin highlights.

Baoulé masks correspond to three types of dance: the gba gba, for the funeral of women, the bonu amuen for the commemoration of the dead of notables and the goli for various events. These masks which do not represent ancestors but sometimes young teenagers are worn by men. It is in order to reconcile the favors of the "amwin" spirits, providers of prosperity, health or even security, ...

These African statues carved according to Yaka formal standards, were made following the instructions of the Nganga ngoombu and the sponsor of the object. This statue is distinguished by the quality of its balanced structure and by its face reproducing the masks of the group, equipped with an identifiable trumpet nose. Glossy black-garnet patina. Desication cracks, abrasions.

Hierarchical and authoritarian, made up of formidable warriors, Yaka society was governed by lineage leaders with the right to life and death over their subjects. Hunting and the prestige that results from it are nowadays an opportunity for the Yaka to invoke the ancestors and to resort to rituals using charms linked to the "khosi" institution. The youth initiation society is the n-khanda, which is found ...

African face mask Makonde associated with an ancestral spirit. This sculpture is characterized by a deeply sunken look highlighting the relief of the cheekbones and the ears placed in height. The hairstyle forms a double crest. A labret deforms the upper lip. Dark satin patina.
Height on base: 37 cm.

The Makonde of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania wore helmet masks called lipiko during initiation ceremonies for young people. The Makonde venerate an ancestor, which explains the abundance of naturalistic female statuary. Besides the face masks worn during mapiko dances and ngoma ceremonies that educate young people about the demands of marriage and family life. the Makonde also produce body masks featuring the female bust. For the Makonde, the ancestors would return ...

This type of female African figure, among the Luba, was often linked to fecundity and fertility rituals. The posture would further indicate that the secrets of royalty, bizila, belong to the women at the Luba court through their role as political and spiritual intermediaries. The female figurative subjects would represent for the Lubas the wife of the diviner, hence its importance in the process of bilumbu divination. According to some Lubas, however, although a woman, she would represent the first Luba diviner, and would also be an allegory of royalty linked to the powerful Mbudye society associated with royal power. ("Luba" Roberts.) Beautiful satin patina, erosions and gaps.
The Luba (Baluba in Chiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely ...

African puppet emblematic of the Kouyou type, intended for the dance kibe-kibe, or Ebokita (S.Diakonoff) this sculpture refers to the ancestor mythical Oso. The face bears scarified patterns, and the mouth reveals sharp teeth.
Polychrome satin patina. Erosions and cracks.
Formerly, the Kouyou were divided into two totemic clans: in the West that of the panther, and in the East that of the snake. A secret men's association, Ottoté, played an important political role in the appointment of chiefs. The initiation of young people ended with the revelation of the serpent god Ebongo represented in the form of a head. The Kibe-kibe or Kebekebe dances, which accompanied the ceremony, reactivated the successive stages of creation. The panther clan had a drum as their emblem. ...

A softened version of the Mukinka mask of the Salampasu, this two-tone mask linked to the society of warriors was exhibited at funerals in connection with the previous initiations of the deceased. He also participated in the initiation rites. Some of these masks were so feared that their name alone scared away women and children. Matte patina.
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 by the Tschokwe and the Lunda, and to the north and east by the Kete and the Lwalwa. A hierarchy of masks, simple wooden kasangu masks and copper-covered mukinka masks, was associated with the society of ...

This schematized anthropomorphic figure, whose appearance of the head varies according to the regions, represents a spirit with which a relationship is established. The columnar bust bears sagging breasts, an attribute of fertility and a symbol of maternity. The stylized head evokes the female crest hairstyle, with a braid falling in front of the face for young girls, the parallel patterns the scarifications.
Glossy patina of use.
Upper Volta, Burkina Faso since independence, is made up of the descendants of the invaders, horsemen who came from Ghana in the 15th century, named Nakomse, and the Tengabibisi, descendants natives. Political power is in the hands of the Nakomsé, who assert their power through statues, while the priests and religious leaders are from the ...

African mask circular and shallow, sporting ample bleached orbits in the center of a face streaked with linear scarifications. The animal fur goatee and exposed teeth evoke an unpredictable character. A textile and raffia hood is attached to the top of the mask. Velvety two-tone patina.
In the north-west of Zaire, south of Oubangui, on the banks of the Lualaba, live the 120,000 Ngombe of the Bantu language, led by a chief and a warrior society Elombe. Their neighbors are the Ngbandi and the Ngbaka whose statuary has had an influence on their tribal sculpture, and various banda groups. Their geometric-looking masks, the uses of which are poorly documented, would occur during the rites of the mani society. They also produce protective hunting fetishes and prestige objects ...

Bwami initiation mask, indicating the acquisition of a certain individual wisdom and morality. Relatively large, this mask bears a chipped gray patina, revealing in places patterns evoking the scarifications in use.
Losses, abrasions.
Within the Léga established on the west bank of the Lualaba River, in the DRC, the Bwami society, open to men and women, organized social and political life. There were up to seven levels of initiation, each associated with emblems. The role of chief, kindi, is held by the oldest man in the clan, who must be the highest ranking. As in other forest tribes, men hunt and clear while women cultivate cassava. Social recognition and authority also had to be earned individually: the chief owed his selection to his heart (mutima), good character, ...

The different types of Luluwa, Lulua, or Béna Lulua statues, with multiple scarifications, glorify local chiefs, motherhood, fertility and the female figure. Female figures of this type belong to the Buanga bua cibola cult, and are supposed, according to the Lulua, to protect children and pregnant women. Indeed, by the position of the hands, this figure highlights a prominent abdomen, center of the body and "object of all solicitude" (The Power of the Sacred, M. Faïk-Nzuji ) Golden brown patina. Desication cracks. It is in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo that the Lulua, or Béna Lulua, from West Africa settled. . Their social structure, based on caste, is similar to that of the Luba. They produced few masks, but mostly statuettes of ancestors representing the ideal warrior, ...

Collectie Afrikaanse kunst Jauregui.
Compositioneel werk met elementen van het Kongo-Lumbu-type. Een zekere sereniteit kenmerkt de Afrikaanse maskers van Gabon. Fluweelachtige matte patina, erosies.

Dit type masker verscheen tijdens de Okuyi-dans en de culten gewijd aan de voorouders, rituele praktijken die met de Punu werden gedeeld. Binnen de groep genaamd Shira, vestigde de Lumbu Loumbu, Balumbu, van Bantoe-oorsprong en afkomstig uit het Congo-koninkrijk, zich aan de kust van Gabon en in de Republiek Congo, in het midden Ogooue. Ze bewaren de beenderen van hun voorouders in reliekschrijnmanden versierd met beeldjes en andere prestigieuze voorwerpen.
Onder de Lumbu is de boyo een lokaal equivalent van de mwiri: hij was verantwoordelijk voor het handhaven ...