African sculpture, an everyday object designed to enhance the status of its user, an expression of African art, this monoxyl headrest or "dream support" is equipped with a solid strap. For the tribes of Kenya and Uganda, it is a pillow to preserve elaborate headdresses during sleep. It could also be used as a stool. Among the Turkana, they are offered to the future wife as a marriage vow, and returned to the man in the event of refusal. Among the Pokot established in the region from Lake Turkana to Lake Baringo, it is the gift that marks the ceremonies of the passage to adulthood or a reward for a victory during a conflict. The headrests frequently adopt the stylized form of an animal, cattle being of the utmost importance to the pastoral tribes of East Africa. Lustrous black-brown ...
View details Turkana Headrest
180.00 €
Turkana neckrest from Kenya established on a circular base, decorated with a braided handle and endowed with a deep lustrous golden mahogany patina. Its sufficiently wide tray also made it possible to sit down. Although it comes from traditional African art, its refined shapes give it a contemporary design. These objects were initially intended to protect the elaborate hairstyles of their owner (man or woman) during the night. But among the Turkana, it is the emblem of the tenderness of the fiancé for his bride, a pledge of union in the same way as an engagement ring. Over time, the creation becoming more complex until they became real little masterpieces of sculpture, they also became individual objects of prestige and power, placed on family or collective altars. Desiccation ...
View details Kenya Head support
The Luba are renowned for their statuary and in particular their neckrests and stools made up of a caryatid figure. The figures adorning this neckrest to preserve the complex headdress of its owner refer to Luba royalty and tutelary spirits. But neckrests were also used to support the heads of the deceased, and sometimes, according to Albert Maesen, buried in their place. Brown satin patina, abrasions. The Luba (Baluba in Chiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu River, hence the name (Baluba, which means “the Lubas”). They were born from a secession of the Songhoy ethnic group, under the leadership of Ilunga Kalala who killed the old king Kongolo who has since been revered in the form of a python. In the 16th century ...
View details Luba neck support
120.00 €
Three legs support the rectangular top of this African headrest decorated with two similar busts. The glossy wood tray is of a mahogany tone while the statuettes adopt a dark patina. Very slight erosion. Tribe of the Tabwa group, the Rungu are established in a region between the D.R.C. (Democratic Republic of Congo), Zambia and Tanzania. Under the influence of the neighboring Lubas and Bemba, the Rungu produced prestigious objects for dignitaries, stools, combs, spoons and scepters, frequently decorated with figures of couples or twins. Their king, called mwéné tafuna , lives in Zambia. A women's association, Kamanya , has dolls like those of the Tabwas.
View details Rungu headrest
Insignia of power among the Tetela-Hamba who carried it for their meetings of initiates nkumi , this type of backrest, which also served as a seat, was also used among the Kuba, the Lélé, the Songye and the Nkutshu. This rare little stool rests here on two asymmetrical legs, the part resting on the ground carved with a face with the characteristics of the group. On the flat oval shape are inscribed geometric decorative motifs, an outgrowth symbolizing legs extends it. Slightly satiny brown patina. Ref. : "Design in Africa, sit, lie down, dream." ed Dapper Museum.
View details Kuba back support
Prestigious African sculpture aimed at enhancing the status of its user, an expression of African art, this headrest monoxyle or even "support of dream" constitutes, for the tribes of Kenya and Uganda, a pillow to preserve, during sleep, the elaborate headdresses. Among the Turkana, they are offered to the future wife as a wedding vow, and returned to the man in case of refusal. Among the Pokot established in the region from Lake Turkana to Lake Baringo, it is the present which marks the ceremonies of the passage to adulthood or even a reward for a victory during a conflict. Headrests frequently take the stylized form of an animal, cattle being of utmost importance to the pastoralist tribes of East Africa. Smooth patina. Cracks and minor abrasions.
View details Pokot neck support
190.00 €
Prestigious Zula, Zuri, Wazula type neckrest, also called Luba-Maniema, established in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the north of the Luba territory. Garnet brown glossy patina, small accidents. An iconoclastic raid, under the influence of Islamic occupants, caused most of the ritual sculptures of the Zula to disappear. The latter nevertheless safeguarded the worship of the ancestors, the worship devoted to the Alunga spirit, and perpetuated the use of offerings to the spirits of nature. Zula society, divided into castes, has its origins in the Luba. The Zulas became associated with the Arabs (Tippo Tip) during the 19th century in the ivory and slave trade.
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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. ...
View details Dogon zoomorphic neck support