African Arts Gallery

African mask in miniature version, fitted with ample arcades pierced with orifices, which, according to certain authors, would represent smallpox scars. Held in the hand, or kept as talismans, this type of reduced mask played its role during circumcision rituals and at the funerals of notables. Black satin patina, minimal abrasions.
Height on base: 21 cm.
Lulua is a generic term, which refers to a large number of heterogeneous peoples who inhabit the region near the Lulua River, between the Kasaï and Sankuru rivers. The Lulua people migrated from West Africa during the 18th century and settled in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). In 1875, King Lulua, Kalambam, introduced new social and religious rules, which put an end to the ...

Large Kongo type mask, carved in dense wood, embellished with various accessories. The face with realistic features offers a glazed look in reference to the mediumistic capacities that the Kongos thought they favored thanks to hallucinogenic plants. The head encrusted with nails recalls the mediating role of nkisi protective fetishes. Polychrome patina, clay aggregates, abrasions.
These mediating masks, also present in initiation processes, were used during healing rituals. 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. This king, also called ntotela, ...

Attribute of the nganga,, priest-seer, this African mask offers hollowed out pupils emphasizing the mediumistic capacities that the Kongo thought they favored by taking hallucinogenic substances. This type of mask was called ngobudi in reference to something dreadful, terrorizing. Abraded matte patina, indigo highlights, erosions.
These mediating masks, also present in initiation processes, were used by witch doctors during healing rituals. At the same time, they were also used to identify individuals who, through their actions, could disturb the harmony of the community. 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. The "ntotela" king controlled the appointment ...

Ex-Swiss African art collection.
This African mask was the prerogative of the nganga, soothsayer. His psychic abilities, which the Kongo thought they fostered through the taking of hallucinogenic substances, were revealed by the eyes of the hollowed-out pupils. Her tribal hairstyle is accentuated by a braided red cotton headband. These types of masks were called ngobudi in reference to a terrible, terrifying thing. The crusty surface reveals remnants of white and red polychrome coatings. These mediating masks, also present in initiation processes, were used by fetishists during healing rituals. At the same time, they were also used to identify individuals who, through their actions, could disrupt the harmony of the community. In the 13th century, the Kongo people, led by their king ...

A remarkably refined mask divided into areas of contrasting colors, on which discreet lines indicate a human face. The eyebrow ridges underlined in black, sharp on the light kaolin patina or colored with padouk bark, form an element common to the fang, pové, kwélé and tsogho groups. The obamba mask and the adouma mvudi mask are similar in appearance.
Velvety matte patina, erosions.
The Mahongwe, Obamba, Shamayé and Sango form with the Kota a group with similar rites and society. It is in the eastern part of Gabon that they live among the forests. Some crossed the Congo border after going up the sources of the Ogooué.

Puppet sculpture involved in the fourth initiatory rank of the Bamana Koré society, Bambara, this cane is named, like the horse mask, Kore Duga or the Kore vulture b>. The name of the mask refers to the satirical behavior of the dancer-jester who straddles the stick during his performance. It has various objects associated with the knowledge dispensed by the Koré, the last initiatory society of the Bamana. The handle has a flat, slightly curved seat and is extended by a sculpted head.
Black oiled, velvety patina, minor abrasions and erosions, cracks.

Dogon animal mask surmounted by a female figure sculpted in the round. Polychrome patina. Abrasions.
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 the Mopti region of Mali (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (northwest of Ouahigouya). More than eighty types of African masks are listed among the Dogon, of which the best known are the Kanaga, Sirigé, Satimbé and Walu. Most of them are used by the circumcised initiates of the Awa society, during funeral ceremonies. The Awa refers to the masks, their costumes, and the set of Dogons serving the masks. Some evoke animals, in reference to the rich ...

Three types of Kifwebe masks are listed: the masculine (kilume) generally with a high crest, the feminine (kikashi) would present a more modest or even absent crest, and finally the largest embodying power (kia ndoshi ). In the 16th century, the Songyes migrated from the Shaba region to settle on the left bank of the Lualaba. Their society is organized in a patriarchal way. Their history is inseparable from that of the Luba, to whom they are related through common ancestors. The Songyes created impressive statues with powerful features often used during secret ceremonies, covered with accessories like feathers, skin and a horn full of magical charge. Very present in their society, divination made it possible to discover sorcerers and to shed light on the causes of the misfortunes that ...

A narrow face with a protruding mouth and a rectangular ridge for the nose, a forehead and a headdress forming a helmet, this copper-plated mask is a specific feature of marka sculptures. Matte smooth 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 much of the Bambara traditions, such as Ntomo and Koré , initiation societies that used masks during their ceremonies. The African art sculptors Bambara and Marka are part of the Numuw , who are not linked to an ethnic group and are free to settle wherever they wish.

The Nam Gbalang or Lang Badna mask is a powerful symbol of a cult dedicated to a protective genius.

He appears during the rites of passage of the Kaa festival and at the funerals of high-ranking officers.
It is likened to buffalo; it represents the wild spirit of the bush with all its powers and dangerousness.
On some authors he would represent a queen whose chamba lineage claims to descend from the buffalo of the forests.
The rounded dome of the mask refers to death because it depicts a skull, a relic taken from the tomb of an ancient.

The other characteristics are related to the wild world of nature, so the machore that seems toothed symbolizes the crocodile, while the horns, parallel on this copy, would be related to the animals of the forest. ...

Initiation mask of the Lega or the Leka, whose society, the Bukota, welcoming both men and women, is the equivalent of the Bwami association of the Lega. A braided raffia cord highlights the oval shape of the mask, whose very close eyes surmount a nose crossed by a groove, and asymmetrical nostrils. The wide mouth, from the corners of which rise broken lines, is split horizontally. Star patterns complement the tribal scars.<

The Leka sculptures, subject to the influence of the neighboring Mbole, Lega and Binja, played a role during initiation, funeral or circumcision ceremonies, and were then placed on the tomb of high-ranking initiates. Each of these figures had a name and a meaning for educational purposes, following the example of lega traditions. Kaolin patina, rings ...

Ex-collection of French African art.
Mask Kwele Pipibuze, Pipibudze, ("the man") symbolizing the light and clairvoyance necessary to fight against the forces of witchcraft. This mask is topped with horns wrapping laterally around the face in which the arches are hollowed out in the heart. The zoomorphic attributes evoke the antelope or duinker, the main game of the region kwele. This type of mask was not always intended to be worn, but adorned the walls of the huts. Discreet kaolin residues, powdery matt patina.
Depending on the presence of horns and their arrangement, the masks are named pibibibudzé , Ekuku zokou , etc...and are associated with ancestors or spirits of the forest, " ekuk ". Tribe of the Kota group, the Kwélé , Bakwélé , live in the forest on the ...

Appearing nowadays during celebrations associated with the Gbagba dance, this African mask integrates all the masks associated with natural phenomena, such as the setting sun, the rainbow and the moon, and "warms" the scene before larger masks appear. The African art of the Baoulé, an Akan group established in the south-east of Côte d'Ivoire, includes a wide range of masks renowned for their quality, finesse and symmetry. On the one hand, these African masks transposing the main features of the face of a very beautiful young girl or a remarkable man, "mask-portraits", which were exhibited during particularly theatrical events where women played a major role, the other masks of conjuration and initiation, intervening during ceremonies which were forbidden to them. Sacred masks, they could ...

The pictograms of the African Téké masks from Gabon insist on oppositions symbolizing the duality in the universe: their surface is embellished with geometric patterns painted with polychrome pigments. In addition to lunar symbolism, these pictograms refer to regional body scarifications. It is a plank mask that the wearer held between the teeth using a braided ribbon. The perforations were used to attach feathers and fibers which completed the harmony of the costume.
Velvety matte patina, grainy kaolin residue.
Only the Tsaayi, among the Téké subgroups of Gabon, produced wooden masks from the mid-20th century. They were used by members of the secret male kidumu brotherhood (kidumu is the name of the society, the dance, and the mask), at the funerals of village notables or ...

The Tschokwe, in African art, have a male association, the mukanda, which makes use of some thirty African masks , made of wood, related to ancestors, for various social purposes: the cikugu mask, the cihongo, the pwo mask, kalelwa, cikunza, but also this type of animal mask, of which there are variants, which was worn on a basketry base. It was also attached colored cotton fabrics and various small objects. It embodies the royal eagle and therefore symbolizes royalty. The mask has a bifid articulated beak. Red brown satin patina. The Tschokwe, of Bantu culture, had established themselves in eastern Angola, but also in Congo and Zambia. Following various alliances, they mixed with the Lunda who taught them to hunt. Their social organization also influenced the Tschokwe ...

Mask offering an oval face, in which the heart-shaped orbits present an asymmetric look. Residual incrustations of kaolin. Golden patina. This carving indicated the stage that its holder had reached within the Bwami, an apprenticeship society composed of different grades, and which was joined by wives whose spouses had reached the third level, that of the ngandu. Height on base: 29 cm.
Within the Lega, 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. Following their exodus from Uganda during the seventeenth century, the Lega settled on the west bank of the Lualaba River in the DRC. In ritual ceremonies, Idumu masks were presented to initiates placed on a fence and ...

African art and diversity of masks Dan
African anthropo-zoomorphic mask whose appearance evokes the elephant, his sculpture consists of a tiered frontal space whose platform is equipped with a metal hook. Deep losangic incisions form an upper frieze. An ridge vertically separates the lower area, a common attribute to the dangled masks in connection with the ethnic keloid. The originality of the mask consists of two semi-discs in relief composing the cheeks on either side of a tubular mouth. This shape ends in a circular, gaping mouth, lined with teeth blanched with kaolin. Elements join the room, such as a leather band nailed around the "trompe", and a grey cotton fabric adornment attached to the contours. The surface of this Dan Bugle mask, or Kagle, is grainy, kaolin residues are ...

African initiation mask, Mbuya, with long notched eyelids, a slightly upturned nose, and a mouth revealing sharp teeth. A raffia headdress is attached to the top. Matte patina, velvety burgundy brown. Cracks. Shards.
Height on base: 42 cm.
The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Eastern ones have settled on the banks of the Kasaï downstream from Tshikapa. The influences of neighboring ethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba and Salempasu imprinted on their large tribal art sculpture. Within this diversity, the Mbuya masks, realistic, produced every ten years, take on a festive function, and embody different characters that are difficult to differentiate without their costume, including the chief fumu or ufumu, the diviner and his ...

Ex-collection African art from Belgium.
The African masks naturalistic of the Kongo clans.

According to sources, these masks would belong to diviners or were worn during funeral rites.
Great simplicity for this naturalist specimen surmounted by a triangular outgrowth. Abraded velvety patina. The Vili , the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembé, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo formed the Kôngo group, headed by the king ntotela . Their kingdom reached its peak in the 16th century with the ivory and copper trade and the slave trade. With the same beliefs and traditions, they produced a statuary with a codified gesture related to their worldview. In addition to their weapons and prestige objects and their funerary sculpture, the Sundi used, ...

The Nam Gbalang or Lang Badna mask is a powerful symbol associated with the Vara cult dedicated to a protective genius.

It appears during the Kaa festival rites of passage and at high-grade funerals.
It is likened to the buffalo; it represents the wild spirit of the bush with all its powers and its dangerousness.
According to some, this mask represents a queen whose chamba line claims descent from the forest buffalo.
The rounded dome of the mask symbolically represents the idea of ​​death as it depicts a skull, a relic taken from the tomb of an elder.

The other characteristics are related to the wild world of nature, thus the mouth symbolizes the jaws of the crocodile, while the horns are those of the forest buffalo.
The Nam ...

Ex-collection of Belgian African art.

African masks Lwalwa, Lwalu. The Lwalwa live near the Kasai river, between Angola and Zaire. Having historically had a matrilineal society, the Lwalwa, after undergoing the Luba and Songye influence, adopted a patrilineal system within their rudimentary political and social organization. The male mask nkaki, nkaaki, red or brown according to M.L. Felix, carved in wood mulela, is one of the four types of masks produced by the privileged caste formed by their sculptors. These craftsmen, according to their merits, can become chiefs and organize dances, including the balango, during which acrobatics are performed by young dancers. These masks are then exhibited, or worn during initiation ceremonies, or to appease the spirits after an ...