African Arts Gallery

Ex-French African art collection.

Shallow African Zande or Nzakara mask, incised with patterns corresponding to the scarifications, embellished with teeth and a metal ring. Thick locally chipped brown patina, abrasions.
Height on base: 48 cm.
Formerly referred to 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. According to their beliefs, man is endowed with two souls, one of which is transformed upon his death into an animal-totem of the clan to which he belongs. The African tribal art of the Zande, or "those who own a lot of land", apart from their court art consisting of spoons, receptacles, pipes and harps, counts ...

This African mask, of Vili inspiration, takes elements from the white masks of the Punu. At the top, the end of what was a hairstyle divided into shells. The face has checkerboard keloids.
Abraded matte patina. Present along the Gabonese coast, the Vili broke away from the Kongo kingdom in the 16th century and the Loango kingdom became a powerful state. Most of them are now urbanized, but they still belong to traditional associations that depend on ancestor worship, such as the Mbouiti or the Bieri. Like the Kongo group, in order to protect themselves against witchcraft and various plagues, they produce a wide variety of magical ritual objects of the nkisi type. Their masks are used by the association Ndunga or Djembe, but also for the funerals of dignitaries and during ...

This African mask embodying the god Alunga was used during the tribal ritual of the male Kalunga society, Alunga, exercising social control over the clan , and responsible for the public dances and ceremonies preceding the hunt. Evocation of a spirit of the forest, this mask was kept in the sacred caves and it was during festivals associated with hunting and ancestor cults that it was exhibited.
Grainy patina, cracks and gaps at the top.
The Bembe ethnic group is a Luba branch that left the Congo in the 18th century. Their society and artistic tendency are marked by the influence of their neighbors in the Lake Tanganyika region, the Lega, the Buyu, etc. Indeed, like the Lega, the Bembe had a bwami association responsible for initiation and structuring society, but ...

This mask has characteristics common to the Dan and Toma of Liberia. On the protruding forehead is a face associated with "passport masks", miniature masks that function as magical talismans. Institutions such as the Poro male society are used by different tribes on both sides of the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The youth initiations associated with these associations culminate in festive masked ceremonies. Velvety matte patina.
The Toma of Guinea, called Loma in Liberia, live within the forest, at high altitude. They are renowned for their landai board masks intended to enliven the initiation rites of the poro association that structures their society, and which represent bush spirits. As soon as the landai mask appeared, the initiates would go to the forest to ...

Volute cimiers in the African art of Ejagham/Ekoi

A conical base in basketry rises a wooden head stretched out of animal skin. Its headdress, usually composed of horns in volutes, is here topped with ventrus perosnnages. The dancer's costume consisted of a large lattice of raffia ropes, and more recently, cotton cloth. The masks were coated with palm oil before use, and placed in daylight so that their leather softened and adopted a satisfying luster. Leopard societies, such as the male society Kpe, Ngbe among the Aro, used this model of cimiers for initiation ceremonies or funerals of members of the association, but also during agricultural rituals. The hairstyle would represent that of the young women named Moninkim in the end of their traditional imprisonments during which ...

This anthropomorphic dance crest features a face surmounting a stylized body composed of superimposed arcs anchored on a conical foot. Decorated with field diamonds whose once contrasting colours barely retain polychrome pigments, it remains extraordinarily expressive thanks to a concave face in which the bulging eyelids are modestly lowered. This mask was used during the Ogbom ceremonies. Thick crusty matte patina.
The Ekets are a subgroup of the Ibibio ethnic group known for its expressive masks. These Ogbom cimiers are among the most conceptual pieces of African art and relate to the most modernist expressions of the ancient statuary Eket.Il are open masks with a crusty patina and overhanging a human head. It should be noted that these masks can be feminine or male.

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. ...

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, ...

Ex Belgian private collection of African art J. Putteneers.

The Wurkum, like the Mumuye, have shoulder masks called Skuwava with an elongated neck topped by a head, sometimes miniaturized. Wurkum pieces are nevertheless more expressive than Mumuye pieces.
These imposing masks were traditionally worn during war preparation ceremonies but are now linked to healing and rain rituals.
These uncommon pieces come from the northern regions of the Benue Valley. The patina is smooth in coffee tones.