African Arts Gallery

Former French collection of African art.
African mask carved in dense wood, whose horns meet at the front. The bulbous, whitened eyelids are doubled with tubular elements indicating a second pair of eyes. The top evokes a helmet. Height on base: 48 cm.
It is mainly in the West of the Ivory Coast that the Bété use masks linked to the cult of the bagnon . The style of their dance masks was influenced by the Wobé and Guéré populations, a group called Wé or "men who forgive easily", itself belonging to the Krou cultural group. These traditions were transmitted and taught to them by the Nyabwa. Of warrior origin but also participating in the resolution of conflicts, this sacred mask is worn accompanied by amulets that protect its wearer. It is in order to strengthen his power ...

African mask Idoma of the figurative type offering the traditional keloids in bars on the temples and protruding on the forehead. This type of mask, among the great diversity of which each village had variants, was intended for the multiple local festivals. The masks refer to characters exalting the qualities of young women or those of valiant men, each age group having its own series of personalized masks. Height on base: 43 cm.
Abraded black patien, slight losses and cracks.
The Idoma settled at the confluence of the Benue and the Niger. Numbering 500,000, they are made up of farmers and traders. The neighborhood and therefore the influences of the Igbo, those of the ethnic groups of the Cross River and Igala have generated stylistic borrowings. The royal lineage members of ...

This sculpture of African art Dogon, carved in dense wood, personifies a hermaphrodite ancestor of which a miniature replica represents the child. The posture of the subject differentiates this rare Dogon statue. Dry, matte and cracked patina.

These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on ancestor altars and take part in various rituals, including those of the sowing and harvesting periods.
According to Dogon cosmogony, the first primordial ancestors of Dogon, called Nommo, were the bisexual water gods. They were created in heaven by the creator god Amma and descended from heaven to earth in an ark.
The Nommo is said to have founded the eight lineages of Dogon and instilled weaving, the art of blacksmithing, and agriculture to their human ...

Old Lobi slingshot with a carved figure that serves as an amulet. This type of object was used by children to hunt small game or birds. Lustrous golden brown patina, cracking.
The populations of the same cultural region, grouped under the name "lobi", make up a fifth of the inhabitants of Burkina Faso. Few in number in Ghana, they have also settled in the north of Côte d'Ivoire. It was at the end of the 18th century that the Lobi, coming from Northern Ghana, settled among the indigenous Thuna and Puguli, the Dagara, the Dian, the Gan and the Birifor. The Lobi believe in a creator God named Thangba Thu, whom they address through the worship of many intermediary spirits, the Thil, the latter being supposed to protect them, with the help of the diviner, against a host of plagues.

Ex-collection African art Belgian
A combination of vivid contrasting geometric patterns adorn this janiform African mask. A crested headdress unites the two faces. The painted patterns symbolize the magic amulets of the Bobo. The masks are repainted with each new dance season. Common characteristics are to be noted with certain helmet-masks of the Markha, another Mandinka ethnic group.
These heavy masks, whose design usually revolves around a hemispherical helmet with a crest or horned growths, occurred during agricultural rituals in order to restore the balance of the earth. Their significance was revealed during the initiation of young boys. A Mandingo people, most of whom live in eastern Burkina Faso, but also in southern Mali, the culture of the Bobo Fing is similar to ...

Less widespread and different from the masks of young girls with harmonious and serene features, this mask displays the features of an older woman, materializing the matrilineal lineage. The status is revealed by the type of hairstyle, a central shell is here associated with two sides, the whole highlighted with upholstery nails. Grainy matte patina, red ocher highlights, abrasions.
The white masks of Gabon, itengi, (pl. bitengi) were associated with the various secret societies of Gabon, including Bwiti, Bwete, and Mwiri ("to lead") , the latter spanning several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the caiman (hence, for some, the saurian scale motif). These powerful secret societies, which also had a judicial function, included several ...

African mask of initiation to the Bwami, supposed to indicate the acquisition of a certain individual wisdom and morality, and the level of initiation reached. Desiccation cracks, abrasions.
Height on base: 38 cm. 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 of the clan, who must be the highest ranking. As in other forest tribes, the men hunt and clear land while the women cultivate cassava. Social recognition and authority also had to be earned individually: the chief owed his selection to his heart (mutima), good character, intelligence, and ...

Belgian collection of African art
This African Lega mask , with traditional characteristics, symbolized the level reached by its owner within the Bwami, an initiation society composed of several grades, which were joined by the wives of men who had reached the third degree, that of the ngandu.
The Bwami society, which was open to both men and women, governed the social and political aspects of the community. It had up to seven levels of initiation, each associated with a specific emblem. After their migration from Uganda in the 17th century, the Lega settled on the west bank of the Lualaba River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also called Warega, they live in autonomous villages, generally perched on hilltops and protected by palisades. The role of chief, or kindi, ...

The tribal art of the Dan also extends to the creation of utilitarian and prestige objects, including the famous African spoons made of carved wood, Wakemia. These spoons are used during festive ceremonies and are offered by the villagers to a particularly generous and hospitable woman. The woman will use the spoon to serve meals and will brandish it with joy during the "dances of the hospitable woman". The spoons often have an anthropomorphic handle, here the lower part of a female body. The black patina is shiny, abrasions of use. For the Dan of Côte d'Ivoire, also known as Yacouba, two distinct universes coexist: that of the village, composed of its inhabitants and its animals, and that of the forest, with its vegetation, its animals and the spirits that populate it. In order for ...

African mask dependent on the ntomo, initiatory society of uncircumcised youth widespread in the Niger River region. This ancient mask intervenes especially during harvests. At the top is the effigy of Nyeleni, the ideal wife of the initiates after circumcision. Matt wear patina abraded, gaps and cracks, original restoration (metal fragment).
Established in central and southern Mali, in an area of savannah, the Bambara, "Bamana" or "unbelievers", as the Muslims have named them, belong to the great Mande group, with the Soninke and the Malinke. Mostly farmers, but also herders, they make up the largest ethnic group in Mali. Animists, they believe in the existence of a god requires the gestation of a child. Ngala maintains the order of the universe. His existence coexists ...

Box mask reproducing in miniature the famous zoomorphic mask symbolizing power. Golden beige patina encrusted with residual kaolin. Desication cracks.
br-The Tabwa ('scarifier' and 'write') are an ethnic group found in southeastern DRC, around Lake Tanganyika. The tribes of this region, such as the Tumbwe , worship the ancestors mipasi through sculptures held by chiefs or sorcerers. A magical charge (dawa) was introduced to the top of the head of the statues. Soothsayers used such objects to expose witchcraft and protect against evil spirits. The Tabwa, a simple farmers without centralized power, united around tribal leaders after being influenced by the Luba. It was mainly during this period that their artistic current was expressed mainly through statues but also through masks. ...

Ax with a cephalomorphic motif, the handle of which bears a trace depicting a fish. Glossy patina, blue paint residue. Small accidents.
The Lélé, close to the Tschokwe and the Pende, live to the west of the Kuba kingdom and share common cultural specificities with the Bushoong of the Kuba country. Both groups adorn their prestige objects with similar motifs. The ritual ceremonies are under the authority of the oldest, chiefs of each village who hold the secrets of medicinal plants. These elders once formed, with the parents of twins, spiritual intermediaries, the bangang brotherhood responsible for the initiation of young people. The sculptor is responsible for extracting palm wine, he also weaves raffia. He produces the ritual cups in which palm wine is consumed to seal a deal. ...

Wearing braided shells, the male subject whose head forms a third of the body, wears scarified motifs, bracelets and necklaces and a light loincloth. Patina of use, small accidents and desication crack.
Gifts of women, food, festive ceremonies, and honorable status once rewarded dan carvers who were granted this talent during a dream. The latter was the means of communication of Du, invisible spiritual power, with men. Statuary, rare, had a prestigious role with its owner. These are mainly effigies of wives, lü mä, wooden human beings. These are not incarnations of spirits or effigies of ancestors, but prestige figures representing living people, often commissioned by the chiefs, whose names the statues will bear. They are placed in miniature boxes built for this purpose.

Used inside homes but also carried in ceremonies, this type of neck rest has a smooth and shiny patina. More than eighty ethnic groups in Ethiopia have produced different neck rests for individual use called yagerteras, or "pillows of my country" or "Boraati" ("tomorrow-you"). Small losses, cracks from desiccation. The objects were originally intended to protect the elaborate hairstyles of their owner (man or woman) during the night. But among the Turkana for example, it is the emblem of the tenderness of the fiancé for his betrothed, a token of union in the same way as an engagement ring. The Silt'é live in southern Ethiopia.

Ex-Belgian collection of tribal art.

This "warrior" mask offers a narrow face where a rectangular nose runs above thin protruding lips. A crest covers the face. A fine veneer decorated with striated surfaces, neighboring with cotton pompoms, distinguishes the structure. Grey/khaki speckled patina.
In African art, the Marka , Maraka in Bamana, Warka , or Sarakolé, are Muslim city dwellers of Soninke origin, established in the south of Niger, scattered since the end of the Ghana empire in Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. They now speak Bamana and have adopted many Bambara traditions, such as the Ntomo and the Kore, initiation societies that used masks during their ceremonies. The Bambara and Marka sculptors of African art are part of the Numuw, who are not tied to an ...

French collection of African art.
Small animal figure made of terracotta, fixed on a plexi base using paste.
The frequent representations of riders and their mounts among the Dogon of Mali refer to their cosmogony and their complex religious myths. Indeed, one of the Nommos, ancestors of men, resurrected 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 according to custom he was not to set foot on the ground. In the region of the Sangha cliffs, inaccessible on horseback, the priests carried him, while neighing in reference to the mythical ancestor Nommo.

Ex-collection of French tribal art, the name of the collector will be communicated to the purchaser.

Witnesses to the traditions of the Hopi Indian peoples of Arizona, the Katsinam sculpted objects (song. Kachina ) intervene during the traditional dances organized for the annual festivals in favor of rain. This Hopi-type mask, flanked by mobile ears and a toothed muffle, is painted with colored flat tints in accordance with Indian traditions. Polychrome matte patina, abrasions and small accidents.

French collection of tribal art.
Typical in African art, the Kronkronbali Komaland heads, meaning "children of yesteryear", have features in marked relief. The eyes, nose, eyebrows, beards and moustaches are, most often, formed of ridges of earth. The head, at the top, is concave and pierced.
These heads seem to have been sculpted as such, without a body, reminiscent of Akan or Anyi statuary. They have the appearance of a sort of stopper, driven into the earth in a circular fashion around tumuli, tombs themselves circular and covered with stones. The first were discovered in the 1970s-80s by German anthropologists who dated them between the 13th and 19th centuries. Base included.

Exhibited during the divinatory rites of the Mani society, this ancient Yanda statue, of traditional type, has arched arms surmounting a stylized bust extended by short legs whose feet contrast. Brown patina with orange highlights, erosions and cracks.
Formerly known as "Niam-Niam" because considered cannibals, the tribes grouped under the name of Zande, Azandé, settled, from Chad, on the border of the DRC (Zaire), Sudan and the Central African Republic. According to their beliefs, man would be endowed with two souls, one of which transforms upon his death into the totem animal of the clan to which he belongs. The name of their ethnic group means: "those who own a lot of land", an allusion to their warrior past originating in Sudan. The Yanda statuettes were exhibited during ...

Belgian collection of African tribal art This type of Hemba mask with realistic features would have been worn by hand during rites intended for the protection of the home and fertility. Glossy brown patina. Minor cracking and chips. Height on base: 24 cm.
Only two types of Hemba masks have been identified: that of an anthropomorphic type with regular features, whose pointed chin recalls statuary, and those depicting monkeys, the soko mutu, and whose functions remain little known, but which probably belonged, according to J. Kerchache, to the secret societies bugabo and bambudye. In addition to the janiform kabeja statuettes, the statues of male ancestors, guarded by the hereditary chief of each clan, the fumu mwalo, are called songiti.
It was during the 18th century that ...

Belgian collection of African art .
This statuette, with a prognathous jaw, was placed on the box containing the relics of the deceased, which was guarded by the esa, the oldest man in the family. The hands are joined in front of the bust, the legs with prominent muscles are flexed. Glossy black patina. Slight chips and cracks.
Among the Fang of Cameroon and Gabon, each family has a "Byeri", or reliquary box, in which the bones of illustrious ancestors are kept. The sculptures played the role of guardians of the "byeri" boxes, named after the cult to which they relate. These were kept in a dark corner of the hut, and were intended to divert evil influences to someone else. They were also used during initiation ceremonies for young people linked to the "So" society. During ...