African Arts Gallery

Ex-Belgian collection of African art A means of communicating with the spirits of the ancestors, this type of statue embodies the ancestor of the clan. Light brown matte patina.
Erosions and desiccation cracks.
The Vili, the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembé, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo formed the Kôngo group, led by King ntotela. Their kingdom reached its peak in the 16th century with the trade in ivory, copper and the slave trade. With the same beliefs and traditions, they produced statuary with codified gestures in line with their vision of the world. Belonging to the Kongo group, the Yombe are established on the west coast of Africa, in the southwest of the Republic of Congo and in Angola. Their statuary includes remarkable maternities.

Ex. French collection of African art .
Traditional African art includes two types of Azande statues: The Kudu , between 30 and 50 cm, represent ancestors, and the Yanda statues of 10 to 20 cm, of animal or human form, having an apotropaic role, exhibited during divinatory rites during rituals. This statuette has a face with an bulging gaze, crenellated limbs, and is decorated with concentric motifs. Shiny orange-brown patina, erosions. Formerly known as "Niam-Niam" because they were 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.

African statue inspired by Lumbu. This type of sculpture was placed in the center of baskets of ancestral bones constituting the relics. Granular patina pink ochre. Erosions (base).
The Punu are a Bantu people of Central Africa established mainly in the south of Gabon, also in the Republic of Congo in the Niari region. They live in independent villages divided into clans and families. Social cohesion is ensured by the Moukouji society, whose essential role is to subjugate the evil spirits of the forest. Within this same group named Shira, the Lumbu, Loumbu, Balumbu, settled on the coastal part of Gabon, and in the Republic of Congo, keep the bones of their ancestors in reliquary baskets decorated with statuettes and other prestigious objects.
Litt. : "Punu", L. Perrois and C. ...

A functional object, this broom was intended for the maintenance of ritual altars. The refined carved motif refers to the ancestors. Good condition, very minor accidents.
The people known as Fang, or "Pahouins", described as conquering warriors, invaded in successive leaps, from village to village, the entire vast region between Sanaga in Cameroon and Ogooué in Gabon, between the 18th and the beginning of the 20th century. 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 ward off evil influences. They were also used during initiation ceremonies for young people linked to the "So" ...

French collection of African art .
The pfemba or phemba maternity figures, symbols of the mythical ancestor, are associated with fertility cults, the child embodying the matrilineal transmission of power. The Yombe decorated their textiles, mats and loincloths, with motifs related to proverbs glorifying work and social unity. Black patina, alterations and losses.
The Solongo cultures of Angola and Yombe were largely influenced by the Kongo kingdom from which they borrowed the naturalistic statuary and religious rites by means of sculpted fetishes nkondo nkisi.
The Yombe are established on the west coast of Africa, in the southwest of the Republic of Congo and in Angola. Their statuary includes remarkable maternities whose use remains little known.

Necklaces of assorted, multi-colored beads, including Venetian beads, glass beads, and Ghana beads, strung on raffia ties. One bead is damaged. Collected in the former Congo.

Former Belgian collection of African art Teke fetish including the chief's regalia sculptures. The bust draped in a textile houses the mystical charge called "Bonga". Established between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon, the Teke were organized into chiefdoms whose chief was often chosen from among the blacksmiths. The head of the family, mfumu, had the power of life or death over his family, the importance of which determined its prestige. The chief of the clan, ngantsié, kept the large protective fetish tar mantsié which supervised all the ceremonies. It was the healer and diviner who "charged" the individual statuettes or nkumi with magical elements, for a fee. According to the Teke, wisdom was absorbed and stored in the abdomen. It was also according to the diviner's ...

Collection of African Belgian art.
This Yaka Kholuka mask, said of circumcision and initiation of young boys, marks the end of the period of confinement. These African masks represent various degrees of the hierarchy of initiates, and as the personal imagination can express itself freely in them, they are very varied. The set is well preserved. The representation of the upturned nose is quite characteristic of the Yaka ethnic group. The headdress is emblematic of the ethnic group. Yaka society is extremely hierarchical and authoritarian. The head of lineage indeed has the right of life and death over his subjects. As often, the artistic movement of the ethnic group was influenced by neighboring populations. For the Yaka, the influence comes mainly from the Suku and Kongo ethnic ...

Aiming in most cases to satisfy the thirst for prestige of their owners, utilitarian objects had to be adapted to the social rank of each. This small ritual pipe has a mouthpiece carved with a head referring to the ancestors of the clan. Tobacco use was widespread among the Chokwe, and smoking was an integral part of offerings to ajimu spirits
Beautiful patina lustrous by use, cracks. Peacefully 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 sacredness of power. br>

African Art Luba

Considered a "nkishi", this African sculpture, ritual rattle is said to be endowed, in the Luba culture, with powerful magical and apotropaic powers. These objects come in different forms, including this female figure perched on gourds mounted on a stick. The posture, hands positioned on the breasts, reminds us that the secrets of royalty belong to women thanks to their role as political and spiritual intermediaries. This object was used in the context of the Bugabo association, active during the colonial period among the Luba and related groups, a society linked to hunting, healing and combat. It was customary, during rituals, to fill the gourd with magical ingredients in order to strengthen its power. The ingredients used produced a sound when the object ...

Ex. French collection of early African art.
Borrowed from the Igbo of the Cross River, the African masks Idoma crests also relate to warrior masquerades. The subject refers to a water spirit, anjenu, . The scarification that divides the forehead is typical of the Idoma, as are the prominent scars on the temples.

Minor cracks.
The Idoma settled at the confluence of the Benue and the Niger. The members of the royal lineage of their oglinye society, glorifying courage, use masks and crests during funerals and festivities. The janiform crests are generally exhibited at the funerals of notables. Members of the male society Kwompten, on the other hand, used statues called goemai in healing rituals. Crusty matte patina. Minor erosions and cracks.
Ref. "Arts of ...

A duiker named tsetsi, totem animal of initiates symbolizing the dancer's qualities of agility, is sculpted at the top of this circumcision mask. This type of mask also intervened during various rites, then was kept at its owner. Desication crack, native restoration.
The Suku groups of southwestern Zaire, and the Yaka, very close geographically, recognize common origins and have the same social structure and similar cultural practices. They can only be differentiated by their stylistic variations. The mukanda is the name given to all the rites around the initiation ceremony of pubescent young people, consecrating the end of childhood and shared by many communities. This youth initiation society, n-khanda, or mukanda, found among the Kongo Eastern (Chokwe, Luba, etc...), employs ...

African statue displaying a kplékplé circular mask relating to the spirits of nature, widespread among the Baoulé during the Goli dances. Polychrome satin patina, slight losses and restoration.
About sixty ethnic groups populate Côte d'Ivoire, including the Baoulé, in the center, Akans from Ghana, people of the savannah, practicing hunting and agriculture just like the Gouro from whom they borrowed ritual cults and masks carved. Two types of statues are produced by the Baoulé, Baulé, within the ritual framework: The Waka-Sona statues, "being of wood" in baoulé, evoke a assié oussou, being of the earth. They are one of a type of statues intended to be used as medium tools by Komien seers, the latter being selected by the asye usu spirits in order to communicate revelations from ...

French collection of tribal art These Tchicheri, or cicilg, present themselves to us either in reduced forms intended for the family altar, or in the form of personal talisman, the yendu tchicheri. Only the sons of diviners were authorized to sculpt this protective effigy. In West Africa, the tchitcheri sakab (pl. of Tchicherik) embody a founding ancestor of the clan. This crude-looking sculpted figure, devoid of features and now eroded and furrowed, was initially planted in the earth.
The mediating object is supposed to increase the magical power of the family or community altar. Light patina, dark drips.

Lit. : "The soul of Africa", S. Diakonoff.; “Africa” Ed. Prestel; “The Ewa and Yves Develon African Collection” Musée des Confluences.

Arte africana da Nigéria
Máscara de elmo de carácter zoomórfico, ladeada por chifres e tema animal no topo. As protuberâncias circulares também representam cornos de forma estilizada. A superfície é mate e granulada. Fissuras (topo).

Graças à expansão do antigo império Jukun, os Jukun ou Wurbo da Nigéria foram espalhados em dois grupos: um estabelecido a sul do rio Donga, e o segundo no norte da região, perto de Mumuye e Wurkum. Os Jukun do Sul têm uma tradição de máscaras, incluindo a máscara akuma masculina ligada ao culto do mesmo nome e dos quais quatro tipos foram enumerados por A.Rubin. Têm geralmente chifres que evocam o carneiro ou o antílope, em relação ao culto Akuma. As estátuas são raras e estão relacionadas com o culto mam difundido no leste da ...

Belgian collection of African art
African statuette Nkisi , nkishi (pl. mankishi ) of the Songye with a hallucinated look. The arms free up a space to slide metal hooks as was customary. Matte red ochre patina. Resin residue at the top.
The Nkisi plays the role of mediator between god and men, responsible for protecting against various evils. Large examples are the collective property of an entire village, and smaller figures belong to an individual or a family. In the 16th century, the Songye migrated from the Shaba region to settle on the left bank of the Lualaba. Their society is organized in a patriarchal manner. Their history is inseparable from that of the Luba to whom they are related through common ancestors. Very present in their society, divination allowed them ...

Prestigious ornaments of African art


This silver Fon bracelet was worn on the arm by the village chief. It is indeed etymologically the meaning of the name "abagan", "aba" meaning arm and "gan" chief.

This bracelet is made up of chains connecting a decorative subject, a rectangular volume surmounted by a cutout forming a bat.

The Fon people live in a region of the Republic of Benin called the Kingdom of Dahomay. According to legend, a princess of Yoruba origin created this kingdom before the 17th century.

Ex-French collection of African art.
Support of a sacred power, this African mask Pové, or Vuvi, among the very great diversity of Okandé, Membé masks, from the tribes of central Gabon, adopts modest proportions and a volume of shallow depth. Sculpted by an initiate on the eve of ritual ceremonies, this mask embodies the mythical ancestor of the tribe. Currently, it manifests itself during mourning of personalities or to exercise a form of justice. Established in the Ogooué basin, the Okandé group of Membé language, neighbor of the Punu, Pounou, is composed of the Tsogho, Pové (Vuvi), Okandé, Evea, and Apindji ethnic groups. These ethnic groups practice the cult of Mwiri, a male initiatory society. Source: "Masques du Gabon", ed. Sillages.

Topped with a plate supporting outgrowths, the mask is attached to a wicker basket that was placed on the dancer's head. This crest was used in dry season funeral ceremonies as well as in festivities in the Cross River region.
Grainy patina, losses and cracks.
The Idoma, farmers and traders numbering 500,000, live at the confluence of the Benue and Niger rivers. The influence of their Igbo neighbors, that of the Cross River and Igala ethnic groups have generated great similarities and stylistic borrowings. The members of the royal lineage of their oglinye society, glorifying courage, use very diverse masks and crests during funerals and festivities. Some of them could not be seen, under penalty of death. They also produced fertility statues with whitened faces displaying ...

French collection of tribal art The ancestor cult, among the Mbede, Mbete, or Ambete, is accompanied by these African statues whose dorsal cavity frequently plays the role of a reliquary. Carved according to classical principles, the subject adopts a long bust on legs whose flexion indicates the beginning of a ritual dance. Irregular, crusty, flaky patina, alternating from red to dark brown.
The Mbete form a tribe of Gabon, on the border of Middle Congo, neighboring the Obamba, whose history has been marked by a long-term conflict against the Teke. They do not have a centralized political organization, practice ancestor worship and use statues instead of classic reliquary boxes.
Ref. : "Congo River", F. Neyt - Mercator Fund, Quai Branly Museum.

African animal figure Nkisi (pl. mankishi) of "koso" type in which a bishimba magic charge has been placed behind a glazed cavity in the center of the sculpture. The power of the fetish, according to local beliefs, was further accentuated by the presence of various accessories, such as nails, cords, metal. Among the Kongo, the dog, renowned for its knowledge of the supernatural world, its flair and its vision, had the role of mediator between the living and the dead. The Vili, the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembe, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo formed the Kôngo group, led by King Ntotela. Their kingdom reached its peak in the 16th century with the trade in ivory, copper and the slave trade. With the same beliefs and traditions, they produced a statuary endowed with a codified ...