African Arts Gallery

The African art of the Bamoun, and the regalia associated with sovereignty. This Bamoun dignitary necklace, or even Bamoum, is garnished with 12 heads arranged on a metal hoop. This iconography symbolizes royalty. When they sit, the members of the court council of Sultan Bamoun wear this distinctive adornment of their function, the mbangba, "mgba-mgba", which contributes according to them to strengthen their prestige and ward off any evil power. Among the Bamoun, it is the fon, the head of the Kingdom or the chiefdom, who will offer this necklace to deserving men.


The Bamoun live in a region full of wooded terrain but also savannahs. This large territory called Grassland located in the southwest of Cameroon is also the seat of other close ethnic groups such as the ...

African art jewelry and Amazigh silverware, an element of feminine adornment in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas.
This ancient necklace consists of silver balls, amber beads and luban (from acacia sap), ancient glass beads of venise (murano), red and orange coral balls, Amazonite beads, metal balls, plastic and semi-precious colored stones, threaded in three rows.

Precious element of the dowry, this necklace of adult Himbas women consists of several rows of copper wire This jewelry is passed from mother to daughter. The Himbas are a Bantu people of semi-nomadic pastoralists, of animist religion, living in northern Namibia in the Kaokoland ("far lands") region. The women are renowned for their beauty and their heavy ornaments of necklaces and bracelets. To protect themselves, they coat their bodies and their braided hair with a preparation made of ochre, hematite and animal fat.

Prestigious ornaments of African art
This silver fon bracelet was worn on the arm by the village chief. It is indeed etymologically the meaning of the name "abagan", "aba" meaning arm and "gan" meaning chief.
This bracelet is composed of chains linking a decorative subject, a rectangular volume topped by a cut-out forming the silhouette of a bat.
The Fon are currently located in a region of the Republic of Benin called the Kingdom of Dahomay. According to the legend, a princess of Yoruba origin would have created this kingdom before the 17th century.

Prestigious ornaments of African art


This silver Fon bracelet was worn on the arm by the village chief. It is indeed etymologically the meaning of the name "abagan", "aba" meaning arm and "gan" chief.

This bracelet is made up of chains connecting a decorative subject, a rectangular volume surmounted by a cutout forming a bat.

The Fon people live in a region of the Republic of Benin called the Kingdom of Dahomay. According to legend, a princess of Yoruba origin created this kingdom before the 17th century.

Prestigious ornaments of African art
This silver fon bracelet was, as its name suggests, worn on the arm by the village chief. It is indeed etymologically the meaning of the name "abagan", "aba" meaning arm and "gan" meaning chief. The Fon are currently located in a part of the Republic of Benin called the Kingdom of Dahomay. Legend has it that a princess of Yoruba origin created this kingdom before the 17th century.