African Arts Gallery

Represented in a posture associated with fertility and royalty, this African sculpture indicates that the secrets of royalty, bizila belong to women thanks to their role as political intermediaries and spiritual. The hairstyle was made of braids and copper wires. The so-called "ear-shaped" scarifications, "tactile mnemonic code", are recurrent. This type of figure was also used in the context of fertility rituals: young women lacking breast milk came to touch the chest of the statue in the hope of breastfeeding more abundantly.

Filmy patina, desication cracks.
The Luba (Baluba in Chiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu River, thus the name (Baluba, which means “the Lubas”). The Luba have two main types ...

African mask Makonde embodying an ancestral spirit, depicting a face whose lip bears a labret.
The ancestors would return masked in order to mark their satisfaction following the initiation. The relief patterns refer to traditional Makonde tattoos and scarifications.
Smooth, velvety, golden beige patina. Desication cracks, slight losses.

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 ...

The result of cooperation between the nganga, the sculptor and the client, this African statuette songye was loaded with bishimba elements and accessories intended to reinforce its action. Brown patina, cracks and losses.
The fetish Songye, protective sculpture Nkisi, nkishi (pl. mankishi), plays the role of mediator between gods and men. The large specimens are the collective property of an entire village, the smaller 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 history is inseparable from that of the Luba, to whom they are related through common ancestors.

Devoid of its mystical "Bonga" charge, the cavity of this teke-type sculpted figure makes the bust protrude in powerful volume, seeming to bend thick legs. Under the headdress, the face with its clear, bulging gaze offers cubist features. Smooth dark mahogany patina. Lacks, drying crack.
Established between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon, the Téké were organized into chiefdoms whose leader was often chosen from among the blacksmiths. The head of the family, mfumu, had the right of life or death over his family, the importance of which determined his prestige. The chief of the clan, Ngantsié, kept the great protective fetish Tar Mantsié which supervised all the ceremonies. It is the powerful sorcerer, healer and soothsayer who "charged" the individual statuettes with ...

This large African maskof male type is said to be a variant of the mask of the royal ancestor Sachihongo worn by the circumcised young people of the Mukanda society at the end of their initiation of a period of of several months. In Zambia, mask traditions include a series of specific masks distinguished by their character, demeanor and physiognomy. Among the Chokwe, Luvale, Lunda, Luchasi and Mbunda of Zambia they are called makishi, (sing. likishi), while in Angola and D.R.C. they are known as makishi (sing. mukishi). The sculptor will not name the mask and its costume as such, but rather "the head", and the "body" to define the masked entity. The dancer, then embodying the ancestral spirit, will not be held responsible for his actions during the masked demonstrations. The likishi ...

This biteke fetish, devoid of arms, is coated with a clay agglomerate imprisoning three similar figures of reduced size. While sorcerers teke used a variety of sculptures dedicated to healing or protection, women also had them for the purpose of promoting their fertility or protecting their offspring. A native restoration was carried out on one of the feet, still covered with rubber.
Patine mate, black and ochre.
Andeblis between the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon, the Teké were organized into chiefdoms whose leader was often chosen from among the blacksmiths. The head of the family, mfumu , had the right to life or death over his family whose importance determined his prestige. The clan leader, gantsié , retained the great protective fetish ...

Former French collection of African tribal art. This type of sculpture is a ritual charm belonging to lineages. Performed according to the instructions of Nganga ngoombu and the object’s sponsor, activated using rituals and incantatory formulas and additions in the form of talismans, they have a protective function. The headdress is that of the heads of earth, the nose affects a characteristic upturned shape. Cracks and abrasions. Composed of formidable warriors, the Yaka society was governed by lineage leaders with the right of life and death on their subjects. Hunting and the prestige that results from it are the occasion nowadays, for the Yaka, to invoke the ancestors and to resort to rituals with the help of charms related to the institution "khosi". (C.M.Faïk-Nzuji, ...

Belgian collection of African art
African Pende Mbangu "disease" masks, also known as Bwala-Bwala, exaggerately depict the symptoms of illnesses such as epilepsy or facial paralysis, often attributed to rituals of witchcraft. These comedy masks are worn by dancers wearing hats decorated with guinea fowl, coucal or turaco feathers, or sometimes lumbandu, a crown of leaves. They often have a hump on their back, thus accentuating the disabled appearance of the character. The Pende masks, established in the upper Kwango region, are distinguished by their bent noses and distorted mouths, as well as their contrasting color areas. They have a characteristic semi-matte patina.
The Western Pende live along the banks of the Kwilu, while the Easterners have settled on the banks of the ...

Among the Azande African art statues, there are Kudu statues representing ancestors and Yanda statues of lower dimension, in animal or human form, having an apotropaic role. With a particularly geometric design, this sculpture offers a semi-spherical head with oversized orbits. The barrel bust has protruding arms framing the outgrowth of the umbilicus. A thick cylindrical base prolongs the morphology. Mottled clear patina. Desication crack on the back, abrasions. br> Formerly designated under the name "Niam-Niam" because considered as cannibals, the tribes grouped under the name of Zande, Azandé, settled, coming from Chad, on the border of the R.D.C. (Zaire), Sudan and the Central African Republic. The name of their ethnic group means: "those who own a lot of land", an allusion to their ...

Displaying linear scarifications in checkerboards, this sculpted character also sports a headdress in small diamonds. His posture remains classic, hands symbolically placed on the abdomen, evoking the importance of lineage, transmission, and seat of knowledge. Smooth ocher brown patina.
The Luba dominated the Tabwa in the region along Lake Tanganyika, between Zaire and Zambia. "Tabwa" or "to be tied down" presumably refers to the system of slavery once practiced by Islamic merchants. The Tabwa then regained their independence thanks to the wealth provided by the ivory trade. Just as the influence of the Luba is perceptible in the societies and rites of the Tabwa, the Tanzanian tribes have also marked the Tabwa statuary with regard to geometric decorative motifs.

Figure of an ancestor from b>African tribal art displaying the facial and body scarifications of the Batabwa clans.
Patina of use smooth and satiny, cracks of desication.
The Tabwa ("scarify" and "write") constitute an ethnic group present in the South-East of the DRC, around Lake Tanganyika. The tribes of this region, such as the Tumbwe, worship the mipasi ancestors through sculptures held by chiefs or sorcerers. A magical charge (dawa) was frequently placed on top of the statues' heads. Soothsayers-healers used this type of object to reveal witchcraft and protect against malevolent spirits. Simple farmers without centralized power, the Tabwa federated around tribal chiefs after coming under the influence of the Luba. Animists, their beliefs are anchored around the ngulu, ...

African art and the founding myths of Bambara
This animal sculpture refers to the horse-antelope Ciwara ("wild beast of the earth") which is said to have taught agriculture to man. She would also have offered him the first cereal. The crest mask rests on a basketwork hat covered with textile. Matte brown patina.
Erosions.
Worn on the top of the head, these crests accompanied the dancers during the rituals of the tòn, an association dedicated to agricultural work. The masks traveled the field by leaping in order to chase away from it the nyama, evil scents, and to detect any danger, or to flush out the evil spirits that could delight the soul of the cultivated plants as well as the life force of their seeds.

Established in central and southern Mali, the ...

The vernacular term "Asen" comes from the verb "sé" or to render one's duties, expresses the concept of offering, of worship. This type of altar is also found among the Ewes of Togo where it is called "Assanyi". The Yoruba of neighboring Nigeria used similar sticks, decorated with emblems representing birds, intended for diviners. These objects were used during divination ceremonies linked to the god of herbalists and occult sciences, Osanyin, or to the god of divination, Orunmila. Placed in the family courtyard, it allows one to pay homage to the deceased and thereby to the family lineage. Made of iron, the upper scene glorifies the deceased in a scene where he distinguished himself during his life. The rituals linked to these altars took place during ceremonies called "ahanbiba", ...

In the Uele region of northwestern Congo, stools come in a variety of shapes and have a variety of functions. The many groups inhabiting this region were influenced by the Mangbetu and the Zande, and chiefs and dignitaries, as well as initiates of secret societies, had such seats. This heavy stool has a concave circular seat engraved with decorative motifs. Four square uprights, arising from a reduced circular base, support the curved top. Satin patina, minor accidents.

Statue of an ordinary "Bateba", supposed to counter various evils. Their suffering physiognomy suggests that they take care of the sorrows of men. Matte black patina, erosions.
The populations of the same cultural region, grouped under the name "lobi", form 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, to whom they address themselves through the worship of many intermediary spirits, the Thil, the latter being supposed to protect them, with the help of the soothsayer, against a host ...

On Yoruba altars, this type of horseman statue embodies a deified ancestor or the divine messenger Esù or Elégba, one of the many orisa gods comparable to Christian saints. The equine, rare in the region, was an attribute of prestige that was reserved for the nobility and sovereigns. Matte patina with granular relief. Erosions.
The Yoruba, more than 20 million, occupy the southwest of Nigeria and the central and southeast region of Benin under the name of Nago. They are patrilineal, practice excision and circumcision. Centered on its multiple gods or orisa, the Yoruba religion is illustrated by its altars on which sacrifices are practiced. Arts and coded messages, àroko, are thus used to worship these gods who are supposed to have taken human form. Ref.: "Yoruba " B. Lawal.

Ex. Belgian collection of African art The numerous statuettes are, among the Ngandi, related to hunting and magic. Some represent the spirit Ngbirondo and act as guardian of the village.
Funerary statues were also used, and sculptures of a couple Yangba and his sister, equivalent to the Seto and Nabo ancestors of the Ngbaka.

The Ngbaka form a homogeneous people from the northwest of the DRC, south of the Ubangui. The Ngbandi live in the east (on the left bank of the Ubangui) and the Ngombe in the south. The initiation of young people, "gaza" or "ganza" (which gives strength) among the Ngbaka and the Ngbandi, presents many similarities, through endurance tests, songs and dances. The rites required the presence of ancestor sculptures.
Semi-matte patina, ...

Ex. French collection of African art
Tribal fetish statue with a receptacle for a magical charge and a basket made of wickerwork carried on its back. The gaze refers to extrasensory abilities. br /> Minor cracks, erosions.
Among the Kongo , the nganga activated rituals using a nkondi (pl. nkissi) to invoke a spiritual force. The term nkisi was later used to designate concepts such as "sacred" or "divine". The most influential category of "minkisi kongo" included instruments intended to help regional chiefs enforce the law. A metal object was nailed to a wooden figure as soon as a decision was made, each nail evoking a specific case: disputes, divorces, conflicts between communities... The nkondi thus aimed to guarantee the application of the agreement to resolve the ...

African tribal art from Congo.
Luba or Hemba hatchet whose carved motif personifies an ancestor. Orange-brown satin patina.
The Hemba settled in the south-east of Zaire. Formerly under the domination of the Luba, these farmers and hunters practice ancestor worship by means of effigies long attributed to the Luba. The singiti statues were preserved by the fumu mwalo and honoured during ceremonies during which sacrifices were offered to them. In parallel with the authority of hereditary chiefs, secret societies, male such as the bukazanzi , and female, the bukibilo, played a major role within the clan.
(Source: "Trésors d'Afrique, Musée de Tervuren)

The African tribal art of the Byeri cult is illustrated by various anthropomorphic sculptures acting as "guardians" and embodying the ancestor.
Container whose lid is carved with a round-bosse motif associated with the ancestors of the clan. Brown patina. Minor cracks and erosions.

Among the Fang, the boxes containing the relics of illustrious ancestors were guarded by the oldest man in the village, the "esa". Topped with a statue or a head that acted as guardian of the "byeri" boxes, they were stored in a dark corner of the hut, supposed to divert evil influences to someone else. They were also used during initiation ceremonies for young people linked to the "So" society. During festivals, the statues were separated from their boxes and carried in parades.

This African statue in carved wood depicts a naked subject. Its headdress highlights the elongation of the skull, typical of Mangbetu dignitaries, which a compression of the head from a young age gradually deformed.
Light beige patina, chips and cracks, old restoration (foot).
The elders called beli the anthropomorphic figures embodying ancestors, stored out of sight, and comparable to those belonging to their secret society nebeli. Light beige patina, missing parts. The Mangebetu kingdom, in the north of the Congo, produced architectural works that impressed European visitors in the 19th century. Their furniture, weapons, finery and statuary were marked by a rare aesthetic quality. The ethnologist G.A. Schweinfurth described its symmetry and refinement in 1870, while at the same ...