African Arts Gallery

The African art of the cult of Byeri is illustrated by various anthropomorphic sculptures acting as 'guardians' and embodying the ancestor. Ancient loom pulleys fang, adorned with statuettes of reliquary keepers. Beautiful satin patina, residue of abrased polychromy. Erosions of use.
The boxes containing the relics of illustrious ancestors were kept by the oldest man in the village, the esa. Surmounted by a statue or head that acted as the guardian of the 'byeri' boxes, they were stored in a dark corner of the box, supposed to divert evil influences to someone else. They were also used during the initiation ceremonies of young people linked to society. So, so. During the holidays, the statues were separated from their boxes and paraded. Pre-events were carried out on some statues ...

An ancestor figure illustrating one of the daily tasks of this people of the cliffs. At the neck, a korte necklace made up of amulets incorporating verses from the Qur'an testifies to the Muslim influence in the region. The surface was rubbed with ochre, probably for ritual purposes. This sculpture presents a matte wood, dessiquered and furrowed, pigmented with clay residues.
The Dogon are a people renowned for their cosmogony, their esotericism, their myths and legends. Their 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). Villages are often perched atop scree at the hillside, according to a unique architecture. The history of ...

African art among the Bambara.
Targette Bambara antropomorphic, consisting of two pieces arranged in crosses, the chest, vertical, and the cross, horizontal and equipped with a hollow in which will fit the key. The crossbar is also reinforced with a metal part in the sliding bottom. The locks, usually belonging to women and symbolizing the union of two people, may be offered to them by their husbands on the occasion of a birth or to celebrate the woman's installation with her husband. These are personal belongings that are transmitted to girls and daughters-in-law. Dry, grainy surface. On the base: 65cm.

In central and southern Mali, the Bambara , Bamana (c) or unbelievers, as the Muslims have named them, belong to the large Mande group, in the company of the Soninke ...

Tribal ancestor sculpture, intermediate between men and gods, endowed with an oversized head and figured in an assured attitude. The shaved skull is bounded by a frontal tiara composed of a succession of bars. The face is decorated with a beard, associated with the wisdom and experience of the grandfather. Usually made in iroko, these ritual sculptures were revered by a particular clan and stored in funeral premises in the chief's house. Oiled dark brown patina, locally abraded. Damaged base.
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 ...

Former African art collection Mercier br-Les Urhobos, living near the northwest of the Niger Delta River, form the main ethnic group of the Delta State among the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They speak Urhobo, a language of the Niger-Congo group. Together with the Isoko, whose art is close, they are collectively known as Sobo. Their large sculptures depicting the spirits of nature, edjo, or the founding ancestors of the clan, to whom sacrifices were offered, were grouped in shrines within the villages. They also produce figures similar to the ikenga of igbo called iphri , ivwri , of half-animal form half-human. They personify male aggression and are intended for warriors and notables. However, after consultation with the soothsayer, young children can also wear miniature ...

This female figure in a semi-rest flexed position, hands placed on either side of the abdomen, embodies an ancestor. She is depicted wearing an ethnic mask. This statuette was dedicated to fertility and fertility rites. Desication cracks. Semi-saturated patina.
Shunting and farming, 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 Lwalwa. A hierarchy of masks, simple wooden masks kasangu and copper-covered masks mukinka , was associated with the society of mungongo warriors (pl. bangongo). The wearing of these masks depended on a large contribution of livestock, beverages, ...

This bombou-toro-style sculpture, with a hermaphrodite character, depicts an ancestor with a body engraved with linear scarifications bearing multiple bracelets. Desication cracks. Rather light golden brown patina.
Sculpted mostly by a family and in this case placed on the family altar Tiré Kabou, the Dogon tribal statues can also be the object of worship on the part of the whole community when they commemorate, for example, the founding of the village. These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on the altars of ancestors and participate in various rituals including those of the periods of seeds and harvests. Their functions, however, remain little known. Parallel to Islam, the Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lebe, ...

This figure comes from the Metoko located in the center of the Congolese basin between the Lomami and Lualaba rivers, peoples of the primary forest dedicated to the worship of a single God, monotheism rare in Africa. This piece, cut in three superimposed orange volumes, would form the embodiment of a primordial ancestor. Their company, Bukota, welcoming both men and women, is the equivalent of the association Bwami Lega. Their sculptures, influenced by the neighbouring Mbole, Lega and Binja, played a role in initiation, funeral or circumcision ceremonies, and were then placed on the tomb of high-ranking initiates. Each of these figures had an educational name and meaning, just like the Lega traditions. The Lekas share with the Metoko the institution of the bukota , for which they have ...

African art Kuba.
-Coiffe consisting of raffia textile with a rigid circular frame. symbolizing wealth and fertility.
The Kuba and the tribes established between the Sankuru and Kasai rivers, including the Bushoong and Dengese also from the Mongo group, are renowned for the refinement of the prestigious objects created for members of the high ranks of their society. Several Kuba groups produced anthropomorphic ceremonial objects with refined motifs, including cuts, drinking horns and cups. The Kuba, whose name means Lightning also produced African tools and weapons, including jet knives, which eventually became transaction values, and heavy war swords, Ilwoon. The Kuba kingdom was founded in the 16th century by the Bushoong which are still ruled by a king today. It is the most ...

This small statuette with an androgynous character has a male face extending with a small beard while a strong chest is associated with fertility. The reduced legs, massive and crenellated, are also one of the characteristics of suku sculptures. The chiefs used fetishes named bwene , bisungu representing the ancestor of the clan. Dark patina, residual clay inlays. Cracks.
The Suku and Yaka ethnic groups, 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. They can only be differentiated by their stylistic variations. Their carved wooden figures, through which they honour their ancestors, and their masks are well known.

This mask was worn during the closing ceremonies of the Mukanda initiation. It was supposed to promote hunting, fertility, and harvesting. Dark patina abraded.
From Lunda's origin, the Lwena emigrated from Angola to Zaire in the 19th century, repelled by the Chokwe. Some became slave traders, others, the Lovale, found refuge in Zambia and near the Zambezi in Angola. Their society is matrilineal, exogamous and polygamous. The Lwena became known for their honey-coloured sculptures, embodying figures of deceased ancestors and chiefs, and their masks related to the initiation rites of the mukanda. This mask is engraved with circular patterns associated with ethnic scarifications. These details differentiate him from Tschokwe productions despite the relative similarity of their masks. ...

Ex-collection German tribal art.
Statues of ancestors in the African art of Mbede, Mbete, or AmbeteThe cult of ancestors, among the Mbete, is accompanied by these statues whose dorsal cavity frequently plays the role of reliquary. This statue that was placed above the reliquary does not have a cavity for this purpose. The face has a characteristic appearance, offering narrow, half-closed eyelids, a triangular nose, a mouth revealing teeth. The hairstyle is organized in several crests. Attached to the tubular bust, the raised arms are folded at a right angle. Kaolin patina and use of red ochre hues.
The Mbete form a people of Gabon, on the border of the Middle Congo, neighboring obamba, whose history has been marked by a long-running conflict against the Teke. They do not have ...

Established 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 tar mantsié who oversaw all the ceremonies. It is the powerful sorcerer healer and soothsayer who wascharged" of magical elements, for retribution, the individual statuettes, "mussassi". It was also according to his instructions that worship was given to the ancestors and geniuses of nature. Their secret society, kidumu , used circular flat masks adorned with polychrome geometric patterns. This fetish with a dorsal orifice ...

Named kikashi, this miniature version of the Songye African mask has classic features. The ridge here is pierced with holes. Parallel furrows, encrusted with white kaolin, adorn the surface of the wood, symbolizing plumage and the link with death.
Patine abraded by time and use, dry and velvety. Slight gaps.
Height on a pedestal: 30 cm.
Three variants of this mask Kifwebe (pl. Bifwebe) or "Chasing the mort" (Roberts) stand out: the masculine (kilume) usually with a high crest, the feminine (kikashi) with a very low crest see absent, and finally the largest embodying power (kia ndoshi). This type of mask, still used today, appears to originate from the adjacent area between the northern Luba and the Southeastern Songye. They are worn with a long suit and a long beard ...

Cut from light wood, these shoulder masks emanating from the Northern Baga and also used by the Nalu have a voluminous head with a buzzed nose evoking a bird's beak surmounting a tubular mouth, a long summit ridge, and wide horseshoe ears. A metal clipping, hidden by the grainy matte patina, highlights the eyes and face on which also emerge chevron stripes evoking traditional scarifications. These masks would embody an idealized baga woman, i.e. principles of fertility and abundance of harvests and occur during harvests, marriages or deaths.
Ex. Belgian collection Mercier.Granular surface, abrasions and desisication.
Mixed with Nalu and Landuman , Baga live along the coast of Guinea-Bissau in flooded swamp regions six months a year. They believe in a creative god called Nagu, ...

Baraldi African Art Collection
A personal object intended to preserve the elaborate headdress, usually the crest, the role of the headrest was not only utilitarian. The head of the Dogon's spiritual leader, the Hogon, was never to touch the ground, otherwise there would be disastrous consequences.
The middle part of this beautiful object with its pure lines features a bird's beak, a volatile bird frequently represented on Dogon African artworks: while it is true that hens and guinea fowls make up the Dogon farmyard, Dogon mythology holds the duck for a member of the Hogon family. Two small triangles carved in the shape of a beak also decorate each end of the flat of the seat. The whole presents ornamental motifs such as parallel, crossed lines and triangular champlevé notches. ...

Songye Nkisi Statue with a nice patina, traces of natural pigmentation. Part on which one finds constant graphics, linear scarifications, stops rectangular and nose in triangle. Originating in Shaba as a Democratic republic of Congo, Songye are related in Luba, with which they divide common ancestors.

Ex-French African art collection.
Posture of a rider rather atypical for this female figure: perched in kneeling position, she also presents a face revealing a deep meditation. The beard suggests an ancestor hermaphrodite figuration, swollen belly pregnancy. According to Geneviève Calame-Griaule, these statuettes, associated with fertility and motherhood, named dege were intermediaries between men and spirits or geniuses. A dark brown patina covers the entire room whose wood bears the imprint of age: cracks and cracks. These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on altars of ancestors and participate in various rituals including those of periods of seeds and harvests. Parallel to Islam, dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the ...

Former Belgian private collection of African art J. Putteneers.

These pieces are identified as inspired by the works of buli's Master who developed this style in the mid-19th century. A set of pieces with the same aesthetic characteristics is indeed famous in the luba statuary and is to be attributed to a sculptor or group of sculptors, opinions diverging according to the authors, under the name "Master of Buli".

The Luba are renowned for their statuary and in particular their stools consisting of one or two cariatids holding, with the help of arms and their skulls, a circular seat.
Complex scarifications are engraved on the chest and arms of the female character. The facial features are typical as well as the headdress pulled backwards.

The Luba ...

The variety of reliquaries in the African art of the Mbede
The Mbete are known for their antropomorphic statues with a dorsal hollow as a reliquary participating in the worship of ancestors. These exceptionally well-preserved pieces are typical of african tribal art from the Mbete , Ambete . Their cylindrical abdomen contains a rectangular cavity on the back sealed by a door in which the bones of the lineage ancestors were preserved. Placed in the lower half of the head, under a broad triangular forehead, the face has a characteristic appearance, with cauris evoking narrow half-closed eyelids, a hollowed-out geometric mouth giving it a grimacing appearance. The hairstyle on which the braids are drawn is assembled in a summit crest. Attached to the bust, the arms are folded at a ...

Private collection Recupero
The wide variety of African art production Dogon.
Statue seated, hands resting on the thighs. The belly is prominent, in reference to fertility. Above the excessively stretched neck the face has an angular styling whose soaring shape of the nose is characteristic of the Dogon. The crested hairstyle is incised with rafters. Heavily eroded wood, clear patina.
The main dogon religious leaders are the Hogon, priests of the lebed cult, dedicated to agriculture. One of the most important ceremonies of the lebe is called bulu; it celebrates the renewal and return of life, and takes place in the spring. The ancestors are honored through the cult binu, and give their benevolence in turn to their descendants. Blacksmiths and woodcarvers form a separate ...