African Arts Gallery

Among the Kongo chiefs at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the crucifix held the place, among the chief regalia, as a symbol of power and authority. A ceremony during the inauguration of the chief required that the future leader receive from the hands of a dignitary, in a codified ritual, a nkangi kiditu. This badge, inspired by ancient Christian crucifixes imported by the Portuguese in the 16th century, could also have a therapeutic function, and, in addition to various uses, be brandished during funeral ceremonies during which the object was subjected to libations of oil or of palm wine.
The cross would not be a motif specific to the Christian world, the Kongo considering that the four ...

Recurring within Tikar decorative art, figures with salient features, slender and arched limbs adorn this vase. Concentric and parallel patterns adorn the surface. Black patina with golden reflections. Abrasions.
The identity of the collector will be transmitted upon acquisition.
Located in the border region of Nigeria, the North West province of Cameroon, the Grassland is made up of several ethnic groups: Tikar, Anyang, Widekum, Chamba, Bamoun and Bamileke. The chiefs of the Cameroonian Grasslands, the Fon, reputed to hold treasures of works of art, including bracelets, necklaces, statues, bells, valued the founders and sculptors in the service of the kingdom. These productions, without which the chief would lose his prestige, aimed to magnify the role of the fon. The ...

Collection of African Belgian art
The frequent representations of riders among the Dogon of Mali refer to their cosmogony and their complex religious myths. Indeed, one of the Nommos, ancestors of men, resuscitated by the creator god Amma, descended to earth carried by an ark transformed into a horse. In addition, the highest authority of the Dogon people, the religious leader named Hogon, paraded on his mount during his enthronement because according to custom he was not to set foot on the ground. In the region of the cliffs of Sangha, inaccessible on horseback, the priests wore it, while neighing in reference to the mythical ancestor Nommo. Ocher brown patina. Dogon blacksmiths form an endogamous caste among the Dogon called irim. They now produce weapons, tools, and also work ...

Arm or ankle bracelet used by the Jonga and Hamba groups in Congo Kinshasa around the 1950s for the payment of the dowry. (""The Perfect Form" R. Ballarini, p. 291) Adapted base on request.
In Africa, before the colonial period, payments were never made in coins. Transactions were made using cowries, pearls, cattle, kola nuts, but also metals, especially iron. These primitive currencies were used during commercial and social exchanges, for dowries in particular, but could also constitute objects of parade or throwing weapons. In Sierra Leone, goods were valued against iron bars called barriferri. In 1556 in Djenné Jean-Léon the African observed that the populations used iron to pay for "things of little value". The king generally controlled the production or routing of the ...

Small anecdotal statuette describing a character carrying an ax and a bundle of wood. This statuette with many details is coated with a black patina encrusted with clear deposits.
Dogon blacksmiths form an endogamous caste among the Dogon called irim. They now produce weapons, tools, and also work with 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 Inner Niger Delta region, with copper reaching it through trans-Saharan trade. Excavations on the Bandiagara plateau have in fact brought to light vestiges of iron and steel sites prior to the 15th century, the date of the arrival of the Dogon. The ...

African bronze sculpture, evoking the highest Dogon authority, the religious leader named Hogon, riding his mount during his enthronement. According to custom, he was not to set foot on the ground. In the region of the cliffs of Sangha, inaccessible on horseback, the priests wore it, while neighing in reference to the mythical ancestor Nommo. The frequent depictions of horsemen among the Dogon of Mali refer to their cosmogony and their complex religious myths. Indeed, one of the Nommos, ancestors of men, resuscitated by the creator god Amma, descended to earth carried by an ark transformed into a horse. Dogon blacksmiths form an endogamous caste among the Dogon called irim. They now produce weapons, tools, and also work with wood. "Masters of fire", they are also supposed to heal burns ...

Dogon pots are used to store ointments, tobacco, but also serve to marabouts as oracle pots. This spherical container has a lid on which sits a horseman. Light green patina with ocher reflections.
Abrasions. The frequent depictions of horsemen among the Dogon of Mali refer to their cosmogony and their complex religious myths. Indeed, one of the Nommos, ancestors of men, resuscitated by the creator god Amma, descended to earth carried by an ark transformed into a horse. In addition, the highest authority of the Dogon people, the religious leader named Hogon, paraded on his mount during his enthronement because according to custom he was not to set foot on the ground. In the region of the cliffs of Sangha, inaccessible on horseback, the priests wore it, while neighing in reference to ...

Placed on the altar dedicated to the queen mother from the 16th century in Benin City in Nigeria, the bronze depicting a rooster, Okpa, glorified royal power with its haughty appearance. If poultry in Benin were offerings for the god Olokun, the rooster also symbolizes the oldest wife of the Oba, and this is still present in family harems. The expression "the rooster crows the loudest" indeed describes the authority, wisdom and experience of the eldest wife. This type of sculpture, a metaphor for pride and self-confidence, therefore sat on the altar of the Oba and that of his mother.
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, mainly bronze sculptures, celebrating their power. ...

African art from the Benin Kingdom
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. The killing of the king of animals associated with legends, the leopard, was the privilege of the chief, the Oba. The feline could then serve as an offering for the cult of the chief's head. Sometimes tamed by various royal guilds, it accompanied the leader on his travels. The Oba, named "child of the leopard of the house", could also offer the teeth or the skin to commanders whose loyalty was manifest. The rich Benin iconography is therefore full of references to this animal, such as the aquamaniles. This specimen decorated with ocelli has a black and green patina.

Subject whose morphology refers to the dwarves of the king's entourage. Dwarfs made their appearance at the Benin court in the 15th century, 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. Abraded brown patina. In African art, the art of Benin is described as court art because it is closely associated with the king, known as Oba.
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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. Sumptuous bronze altars, commemorative figures of deceased chiefs, majestic felines, ...

Embodying a female ancestor, this character wears a panties and jewelry. Small spheres punctuate the sculpture. Light green patina.
The populations of the same cultural region, grouped together under the name "lobi", form a fifth of the inhabitants of Burkina Faso. Few in number in Ghana, they have also settled in the north of Côte d'Ivoire. It was at the end of the 18th century that the Lobi, coming from North Ghana, established themselves among the indigenous Thuna and Puguli, the Dagara, the Dian, the Gan and the Birifor. The Lobi believe in a Creator God named Thangba Thu, whom they address through the worship of many intermediary spirits, the Thil, these the latter being supposed to protect them, with the help of the diviner, against a host of plagues. Bush genies, ...

Minimalist animal figure, in metal. Black grainy patina. LOBI communities are organized around nature spirits. When honored, these spirits show their benevolence in the form of abundant rainfall, good health, and numerous births; when ignored, they withdraw it and bring devastating epidemics, drought, and suffering. These spirits transmit to the diviners the laws that the followers must follow to receive their protection. These spirits are represented by wooden or copper sculptures called BATEBA (large or small, figurative or abstract, they adopt different attitudes that symbolize the power or the particular talent that the spirit uses to protect its owners). These figurines are placed on family altars, in a dark corner of the owners' house, along with various sculptures embodying ...

The gan bronzes, metal objects melted by the blacksmith using the lost wax technique, form individual protective fetishes. They embody a sacred mythical animal whose role was crucial for man, and are available in the motifs of the turtle, chameleon, crocodile or panther. Some, composing the royal regalia, were placed in shrines.

This flat, circular pendant, a prestigious piece of jewelry intended for a dignitary on important occasions, depicts a chameleon coiled around itself, around a striated spiral element. The body is decorated with friezes in broken lines. Light brown golden patina. Neighboring people of the Lobi in southwestern Burkina Faso, the Gan or Kaa (Kaaba pl.), form a "relic people" according to Madeleine Père, living within a wooded savanna. Their king ...

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 ...

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 ...

The African art of Benin is described as court art because it is closely associated with the king, known as the Oba. The tradition of bronze court objects from the Benin Kingdom dates back to the 14th century. The many bronze alloy heads and statues created by the artists of Benin were reserved for the exclusive use of the inhabitants of the royal palace and, more often than not, placed on altars consecrated by each new Oba. This late sculpture, reminiscent of those made when the queen died, features a queen mother of Benin named the Iyoba, whose neck is encircled with multiple necklaces of coral beads. Her high hairstyle was also made up of a mesh of pearls falling on either side of her face. After the birth of the future king, the queen was "removed" from power and could no longer ...

These haughty African sculptures embody the primordial couple Nommos at the origin of creation among the Dogon of Mali. Evoking the sculptures of Giacometti, these bronze statues with slender bodies are punctuated by a succession of notches.
Light brown patina.
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 south-west of the Niger loop in the Mopti region of Mali (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (north-west of Ouahigouya ). The villages are often perched on top of the scree on the side of the hills, according to a unique architecture. The history of Dogon migrations and settlements (about ten main groups, about fifteen ...

The primordial couple Nommos, at the origin of creation among the Dogon of Mali, is here embodied by these slender silhouettes in motion. Dark brown patina.
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 south-west of the Niger loop in the Mopti region of Mali (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (north-west of Ouahigouya ). The villages are often perched on top of the scree on the side of the hills, according to a unique architecture. The history of Dogon migrations and settlements (about ten main groups, about fifteen different languages) bears on several hypotheses. For some historians, the Dogon would have fled from an area west ...

This small anthropomorphic sculpture of Kongo inspiration takes up the canons of personal fetishes with a protective purpose. The kneeling figure could represent a slave destined for sacrifice.
The Vili , the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembé, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo formed the Kôngo group, led 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.
The witch doctors nganga , both healers, were in charge of religious activities and mediation towards the God called Nzambi through consecrated figures. To this end, individual protective figures nkisis, to protect ...

This late bronze made from a work that was made on the death of the queen, depicts a queen mother of Benin named the Iyoba, whose neck is circled with multiple necklaces of coral beads. Her high curved hairstyle was also made up of a mesh of pearls falling on either side of the face. Dark patina, greenish reflections.
After the birth of the future king, the queen was "removed" from power and could no longer father. But at the end of the 15th century the Oba Esigie refused to conform to this practice and wanted to attribute the town of Uselu to his mother. She also received a palace and many privileges. In recognition she raised an army to go and fight the Igala of the North. The Oba cast a head in his effigy, among many works cast in lost wax, to place them on his altar after his ...

Used as an amulet credited with apotropaic virtues, this small bronze sculpture constitutes, for the Sao, a talisman worn permanently, supposed to protect them from madness. The genius who possesses the madman is represented by the rider, the horse representing the victim. This horseman wearing a cheche rides an equine which was a rare attribute of prestige in these regions of the Sahel.
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. They established themselves on hills, which enabled them to repel invaders. 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 ...