African Arts Gallery

African Art from Congo.
The first African coins Handa, also called Lukanu, "Nkanu" or copper crosses, Katanga crosses, or Saint Andrew's crosses, appear in the 13th century in tombs throughout the Shaba region, at the same time as cowrie shells and glass beads, also used as a means of payment. Although associated with funerary rituals, during the 18th and 19th centuries, they constituted the tax that the copper-producing regions owed to the Lunda Empire, a territory covering Katanga, northern Zambia and eastern Angola. Arab merchants also used them in trade circuits extending from Kenya to eastern Angola. The Hungarian ethnologist Torday noted that among the Tetela, it took 3 to 5 of these crosses, ranging from 0.275 to 2 kg, to acquire a male slave and 5 to 10 for a female. They ...

Former French collection of African art
Ornaments marking social status, but also magical protections, African adornments and bronzes: Large prestige ring whose subjects in high relief, referring to the Lobi ancestors, were supposed to protect the holder. Many rings were produced in the southwest of Burkina Faso, also having a monetary value for the dowry for example.
The populations of the same cultural region, grouped under the name "lobi", form a fifth of the inhabitants of Burkina Faso. Few in number in Ghana, they also settled in the north of the Ivory Coast. It was at the end of the 18th century that the Lobi, coming from Northern Ghana, settled among the indigenous Thuna and Puguli, the Dagara, the Dian, the Gan and the Birifor. The Lobi believe in a creator God ...

Ex. Belgian collection of African art .
Traditional African adornment, topped with animal motifs, which could also be part of the dowry. Sold on a base. Height on base: 18 cm.
The Dogon blacksmiths form an endogamous caste among the Dogon called irim. Today they produce weapons, tools, and also work wood. "Masters of fire" associated in the Dogon cosmogony with the primordial beings "Nommo" created by the god Ama, they are also supposed to heal burns. Small metal objects, made using the lost wax technique, were widespread in the region of the inner Niger Delta, copper arriving there thanks to trans-Saharan trade. Excavations on the Bandiagara plateau have in fact uncovered remains of steelmaking sites dating back to before the 15th century, the date of the arrival of the ...

The fan-shaped headdress of this female figure was worn by the Mangbetu: from a very young age, children underwent compression of the skull using raffia ties. Later, the hair was "knitted" on wicker strands and a headband was applied to the forehead in order to extract the hair and produce this characteristic headdress. The elders called beli these figures of ancestors stored out of sight and comparable to those belonging to their secret society nebeli. The statuette takes up the volumes of the Mangbetu jars. Established in the forest in northeastern Zaire, the Mangbetu kingdom expressed itself through architectural works that impressed European visitors in the 19th century. Their furniture, weapons, finery and statuary were marked by a rare aesthetic quality.

African bronze pot to collect medicinal preparations designed according to the advice of the ancients initiated into the science of trees or "jiridon", surmounted by an ancestor figure. The walls are decorated with allegorical decorative motifs, such as friezes of wavelets and subjects relating to mythology. Heterogeneous brown/black patina, chips.
The Dogon are a people renowned for their cosmogony, their esotericism, their myths and legends. Their population is estimated at around 300,000 souls living in the southwest of the Niger bend in the Mopti region of Mali (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (northwest of Ouahigouya). The Dogon blacksmith artisans, forming an endogamous caste called irim, today produce weapons, tools, and also work wood. ...

French collection of African art .
An old traditional Mossi adornment that could also be used as currency, as part of the dowry or various exchanges.
Brown patina with verdigris inlays. Upper Volta, Burkina Faso since independence, is made up of the descendants of the invaders, horsemen who came from Ghana in the 15th century, named Nakomse, and the Tengabibisi, descendants of the natives. Political power is in the hands of the Nakomse, who assert their power through statues, while the priests and religious leaders come from the Tengabisi, who use masks during their ceremonies. Animists, the Mossi worship a creator god named Wende. Each individual is said to have a soul, sigha, linked to a totemic animal.

French collection of African art
Made in bronze, this African statuette represents a notable of the Kuba court, perhaps a wife or an ancestor of royal blood, kneeling. The green patina is speckled. Here and there clay residues are noted. The Kuba, established between the Sankuru and Kasaï rivers, are made up of several tribes such as the Bushoong, Ngeendé, Binji, Wongo, Kété, etc. Each of these tribes produced a variety of sculptures related to royalty, including statues, prestige objects, and masks decorated with geometric designs.

A slender figure evoking a mythical ancestor, a nommos, a primordial being in Dogon mythology. Reddish-brown patina.
Dogon blacksmiths form an endogamous caste among the Dogon called irim. Today, they produce weapons, tools, and also work with wood. "Masters of fire" associated in Dogon cosmogony with the primordial beings "Nommo" created by the god Ama, they are also supposed to heal burns. Small metal objects, made using the lost wax technique, were widespread in the region of the inner Niger Delta, copper arriving there thanks to trans-Saharan trade. Excavations on the Bandiagara Plateau have indeed uncovered remains of steelmaking sites prior to the 15th century, the date of the arrival of the Dogon. The Nommo, a protective ancestor evoked in different forms in Dogon ...

The lagoon populations of eastern Côte d'Ivoire mainly include the Attié, Akyé, Ebrié and Abouré. Their sculptures offer many similarities. These kingdoms had the first trading establishments offering gold, ivory, slaves and pepper to Westerners. Their history is marked by their stormy relations with the Portuguese, Dutch and English settlers in this coastal region where an intense trade in gold and slaves took place. Among the Akan group, the Attié, from Akye-Fo, "the holders of the blade", are divided between those of the North and those of the South. The Attié, producers of palm oil, also harvest yams, corn and bananas. Their traditional and festive ceremonies are an opportunity to display a wide variety of objects, some of which are made of gold or covered in gold. (source: Trésors ...

Dressed in a loincloth and wearing necklaces, the realistically depicted subject offers an imposing head in which the eyes seem blind. Golden khaki patina.
The dwarves of the king's entourage or Oba, who appeared in the 15th century, were intended not only for diversion, but also for surveillance. Occult gifts were indeed attributed to them. According to Fagg, these characters were also acrobats and illusionists. Their bronze figures were to adorn the altars of the ancestors.

Before the destruction of the palace of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, the divine character of the kings, the Oba, was illustrated by multiple codified works celebrating their power. Warlike scenes glorifying them were reproduced on narrative plaques, in bronze, and affixed to the walls. Sumptuous ...

This figurative fetish statuette is said to be a divinatory fetish object. It would be of Tussia origin, Senoufo sub-group of Burkina-Faso. Irregular greenish-grey granular patina
. The Senoufos, the name given to them by the French colonists, are mainly composed of farmers who are scattered between Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. Councils of elders, led by an elected chief, administer Senufo villages. Governed by matrilineal traditions, they are composed of clusters of dwellings named katiolo. Each has its own Poro association that initiates young boys from the age of seven in a succession of three cycles lasting seven years . They gather in a sacred enclosure called sinzanga located near the village, among the trees. Upon the death of one of the Poro members, ...

In African tribal art, the artistic movement of which these sculptures are a part bears the name of the ancient religious capital of Nigeria, Ifè, one of the many city-states established by the Yoruba. This civilization succeeded the Nok civilization. This city-state of Ilé-Ifé, whose rise culminated from the 12th to the 15th century, had an artistic tradition of royal portraits imbued with realism, funerary effigies in bronze but also in terracotta. The parallel folds traced on the neck would evoke the folds of flesh of the prosperous notables, and the hollowed out parts which accompany it were to be used to fix the beaded veil of the king. The parallel lines of the face represent the traditional scarifications. The openings around the mouth likely represented a beard created by the ...

Ancestor figure, talisman of individual protection, green patina rubbed with pink ocher for a ritual purpose.
The Vili, the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembe, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo constituted the Kôngo group, led by King Ntotela. With the same beliefs and traditions, they produced a statuary endowed with a codified gesture in relation to their vision of the world. The nganga, both healers, were in charge of religious activities and mediation with the God called Nzambi through consecrated figures. Nkisis protective figures are crafted and charged by the nganga with all the necessary ingredients to combat a variety of ailments.
Source: "The Kôngo gesture" Ed. Dapper Museum; "Animal" ed. Dapper Museum; "Art and Kongos" M.L. Felix; "Kongo Power and Majesty" A. ...

Used as an amulet credited with apotropaic virtues, this bronze sculpture constitutes, for the Sao, a talisman supposed to protect them from madness. It is therefore worn permanently. The genius who possesses the madman is represented by the rider, the horse, a rare attribute of prestige in these regions of the Sahel, representing the victim.
The Sao, ancestors of the Kotoko, were established between the 12th and 14th centuries in a geographical area extending over the borders between Chad, northern Cameroon and Nigeria. Subjected to successive attacks from their neighbors in Kanem and then to hordes from the East, the Sao had to abandon their lands to settle in the North-West of Cameroon where they mixed with the natives, thus giving birth to an ethnic group called Kotoko. . ...

Extract from a Belgian African tribal art collection of 17 pieces representing different subjects.

This object comes from northeastern Nigeria near Lake Chad, around Maiduguri, in the state of Borno, which is currently relatively inaccessible because it is controlled by armed Islamist groups. The dominant language is Kanuri.
It is a rare piece, associated with protective spirits, which was buried in the ground in order to preserve crops from animals or thieves. The Damosaka families, a very little known minority ethnic group in the region, had this type of ritual object. We have no information about them. This is a male figure whose hands meet in front of the bust. Very thick grainy patina of verdigris oxidation. Stone-like clumps remain on the coin.

Late sculpture of the Edo type, in bronze alloy. It features a seated dignitary, which could represent the Oba Ewuakpe who was forced to wear a European helmet after being deprived of his prerogatives because of a rebellion. Black abraded patina.
Before the destruction of the palace of the kingdom of Benin in 1897, the divine character of the kings, the Oba, was illustrated by multiple works celebrating their power. War scenes were reproduced on narrative plaques, in bronze, and affixed to the walls. Sumptuous bronze altars, commemorative figures of deceased chiefs, heavy bracelets, anklets and recades were produced in quantity in many foundry workshops using the lost wax casting technique. The numerous brass heads and statues created by the artists of Benin were reserved for the ...

These sticks with a figurative pattern forming the Edan were worn as a pendant around the neck by members of the Ogboni society. Smooth khaki patina.
Height on base: 27 cm.
The Ogboni or Oshugbo secret society is one of the most famous Yoruba religious worship societies. Some have suggested that the feminine and masculine representations could allude to the sky as a male entity and to the earth symbolizing femininity, or to the founding couple of human society. Although some Ogboni works are made of wood, terracotta, or ivory, the majority are made of iron-reinforced brass, which has a connection with Osun, the goddess of the river and fertility. Iron is also sacred to Osun, god of tools and weapons. The Ogboni expression, "Ogbodirin" means "Grow old and still be as strong as ...

This commemorative figure of a benign dignitary, represented seated, forms an intermediary between the spiritual world and the Edo people, and is distinguished by its ornaments in agate and coral beads. The kings of Benin being soldiers above all, he is represented with symbolic attributes illustrating power. This bronze could constitute the top of a stick. Before the destruction of the palace of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, the divine character of the kings, the Oba, was illustrated by multiple works celebrating their power. War scenes glorifying them were reproduced on narrative plaques, in bronze, and affixed to the walls. Sumptuous bronze altars, commemorative figures of deceased chiefs, majestic felines, heavy bracelets, anklets and recades were produced in quantity in many ...

This bronze figurine, with prominent features, was worn as a pendant around the neck by members of the Ogboni society. It was usually accompanied, connected by a chain, by a similar figure of the opposite sex, forming the Edan . Greenish-brown crusty patina, rusty inlays.
The Ogboni/Ogoni people are spread over a small area of the Gulf of Guinea, east of the city of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Like other peoples in the Gulf of Guinea, the Ogonis have an internal political structure run by leaders. They are among the peoples who escaped the black trade during the slave era thanks to relative geographical isolation.

The secret society Ogboni or Oshugbo is one of the most famous religious societies that worship the Owner of the Earth, Onilè , and it is still powerful today. ...

Ex English private collection of African art.

These altar heads created using the lost wax technique are very loaded with details and patterns. The figures with realistic features have facial scarification and many finely detailed ornaments. This pair of busts presents a beautiful symmetry. The two figures wear a cross-braced garment with a collar bearing a bell.
The horns themselves are covered with geometric patterns and sculpted faces. At the top of each horn sits a soldier, helmet on his head and weapon in his fist.

The art of Benin is described as a court art because it is closely associated with the king, known as the oba. The tradition of Ifè bronze court objects dates back to the 14th century.

The numerous bronze heads and ...