African Arts Gallery

Belgian African art collection.
Made of los or ivory or carved in wood, and deciphered by the initiated only through the context of their ritual use, the masks and statuettes of the Lega most often referred to proverbs and sayings: Small anthropomorphic figure female, with a hease volume, it is built on circular, crenellated legs, and has reduced arms whose structure echoes the lower limbs. The traditional scarifications rendered by the punctiform details, the neck seeming encased with a large crafted torque, the exorbitant appearance, and the golden yellow patina that oil anointings and use have helped to lacquer and luster, contribute to make this coin an object of exception prior to the regulations on the ivory trade. It was collected in 1948 by an ivory dealer and then acquired by ...

Statuette Nkisi, nkishi (pl. mankishi )whose summit horn is accompanied by small talismans. The power of the fetish, according to Songye beliefs, would indeed be accentuated by the presence of its accessories, such as nails and cords. Satin chocolate patina. These protective fetishes for homes are among the most prized in Africa. The Nkisi plays the role of mediator between gods and men. The large examples are the collective property of an entire village, while the smaller figures belong to an individual or a family. In the sixteenth century, the Songyes migrated from the Shaba region to settle on the left bank of the Lualaba River. Their society is organized in a patriarchal manner. Their history is inseparable from that of the Luba to whom they are related through common ...

Ex-collection French African art.
.A stretched neck gracefully supports the head of this koulango statue. The physiognomy is meditative, marked by wide lowered eyelids. The lozenge-shaped navel, evocative of the lineage, is enhanced by the scarified motifs. Necklaces of pearls indicate the status of the character. Matt brown patina coated with clay libations. Cracks of dessication.

Named Pakhalla by the Dioula, the Koulango formed the Loron in the Voltaic territory. The Dagomba chiefs of the kingdom of Bouna would then have qualified them as " Koulam " (singular: koulango , subject, vassal). Their complex history engendered a no less complex culture. It is between Burkina Faso and Comoé, in the northeast of the Ivory Coast, that their territory extends. Of animist ...

German African art collection.
Small sculpted figure without arms, whose pointed chin rests on an ovoid bust. The features of the face recall those of lega masks imprinted with kaolin. Locally abraded satin patina. The African art of the Lega , Balega, or even Warega , is distinguished by its initiation statuettes, also made in ivory, some of which were kept in a basket intended for the highest ranking Bwami of different communities. This type of Iginga ( Maginga in the plural) tribal art statuette was the property of the high ranks of the Bwami, a secret society admitting men and their wives, and governing social life. This organization was subdivided into initiatory stages, the highest being the Kindi. Following their exodus from Uganda during the 17th century, the Lega ...

The African art lega and initiation materials Sakimatwematwe (Multi-headed).
Related to a Lega proverb, endowed with three faces, this male figure illustrates the need for a holistic view of events, and thus the prudence, wisdom, and impartiality that should follow.(Biebuyck 1973) Belonging to an initiate of the Bwami, among the many others used throughout the initiations, this carved object takes the form of a body without arms. The faces point to the four cardinal points.
The teacher guided the aspirant to a place where masks and statuettes were displayed, and it was through careful observation that the future initiate had to guess the more or less complex meaning of these metaphors, which largely referred to proverbs and sayings. Those who were not allowed to see ...

Figure remarkable for its stretched forms along which run long slender arms. The neck offers a twist, taking the gaze past the shoulder. A few anatomical details enliven the tubular bust. The sculpture could form the top of a stick.
Dry dark patina, imprint of locally agglomerated blackish residues.
Desication cracks. Gaps and erosions.
Carved for the most part on order placed by a family, Dogon statues can also be the object of worship on the part of the whole community when they commemorate, for example, the foundation of the village. However, their functions remain little known. Alongside Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lébé, relating to fertility, under the spiritual authority of the Hogon, the Wagem, cult of the ancestors ...

Statue biteke (sculpted figure) embodying an ancestor of the clan. His hollow bust must have housed the magical charge called " Bonga " or "bilongo", which was generally fixed or concealed by a textile. This symbolism refers to the Téké belief that the abdomen conceals wisdom. These fetishes were placed on the altars of the chiefs.
Matte patina.
Established between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Gabon, the Téké were organized into chiefdoms, the chief of which was often chosen from among the blacksmiths. The head of the family, mfumu , had the right of life or death over his family, the importance of which determined his prestige. The chief of the clan, ngantsié , kept the great protective fetish tar mantsié which ...

Relatively rare figure, whose stylized features are drawn in low relief on the oblique plane of the face, and whose reduced limbs bend in a semicircle around the concave bust propelling the umbilicus. Herringbone patterns line the face and bust. Grainy patina with ocher inlays.
The Tikar people inhabit the western part of central Cameroon, which is located within the dense secondary forest of medium altitude, along the Mbam. Within this ecotone, the "tikar plain" (which takes its name from its occupants) constitutes a depression which leans respectively to the west and north to the Mbam massif (and its tributaries Mapé and Kim) and to the first foothills of the Adamaoua plateau. The structure of the kingdom is made up of a large chiefdom subdivided into quarters: the residences of ...

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 ...

This statue depicts a dancer, a member of the secret society Bwadi Bwa Kifwébé , in a state of transse bwadi, dressed in a braided suit and a natural fiber adornment attached to the contours of the female-style mask. The skirt is made of animal skin, on which remains a little fur. The appearance of this masked dancer is intended to increase fertility. The arms are mobile.
This variants of this mask Kifwebe (pl. Bifwebe) or 'chasing death' (Roberts), from the society of the same name, stand out: the masculine (kilume) usually with a high crest, the feminine (kikashi) with a very low crest or absent, and finally the greatest embodying power (kia ndoshi). This type of mask, still used today, appears to come from the border area between the northern Luba and the Southeastern Songye. The ...

The dolls of the Namji or Dowayo , people of mountain animists living in the north of Cameroon, have recently been known. These effigies represent the human body in stylized elementary forms. The umbilicus of the tubular bust is here encrusted with a cowrie in the center of a cup underlined with a red cotton cord. As an extension of a stretched neck, the inclined face, flat and circular, bears scarifications, like the bust. Small arms are made of beads and cowries.
Cracked grainy patina.
These African tribal dolls are carved in wood by the blacksmith, initially for the play of little girls. But these dolls are mainly used by sterile women in complex fertility rituals, the doll becoming a surrogate child that they will treat as such. In some cases the groom offered it to ...

Small stylized figure whose barrel bust, surmounting the arc of stubby legs, offers arms arranged in a triangle, a frequent detail of the Ubangian region. The functions of these statuettes are comparable to those of the Ngbaka of the Mani-Yanda society, within the framework of therapeutic rites or in preparation before the hunts. Brown satin patina. Minor cracks, slight loss.
The banda group, Mbanza, Mabanja, or Banza, made up of about fifty sub-groups, dispersed in Sudan, southern Chad, the Central African Republic, and the North-West of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has various initiatory associations dedicated to spirits and uses sculptures. Banda sculptural traditions have influenced the ethnic groups of Ubangui, Zande, Ngbandi, Ngbaka....
Ref. : "Art of ...

Three rectangular excrescences rise from the top of this sculpture treated in flat and globular volumes, featuring a character flanked by surrealist attributes. Velvety patina, erosions.
The banda group, made up of about fifty sub-groups, has dispersed in Sudan, southern Chad, the Central African Republic, and the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has various initiatory associations dedicated to spirits and uses sculptures. Banda sculptural traditions have influenced the ethnic groups of Ubangui, Zande, Ngbandi, Ngbaka... Like the Ngbaka, sculpted effigies representing a couple, Seto and Nabo, intervene during the worship dedicated to the ancestors. Statues named Bekimi are associated with therapeutic rites, while "himbia" sculptures are believed to protect and ...

This Hemba sculpture commemorating a local chief, an intermediary between men and the gods, stands out by its physiognomy and its attitude, which shows a certain serenity. A diadem composed of a succession of bars delimits the largely shaven head. A sophisticated headdress ends at the back of the head in a cruciform element. The face is embellished with a fine crenellated beard, evoking the wisdom and experience of the forefather.

Usually made of iroko, these ritual sculptures were venerated by a particular clan and stored in a burial space in the chief's house. Dull grayish brown patina. Desiccation cracks, and numerous erosions.
The Hemba, established in southeastern Zaire on the right bank of the Lualaba River, were for a long time subject to the ...

The result of cooperation between the nganga, the sculptor and the client, the statuette was loaded with bishimba elements intended to reinforce its action. It was introduced at the top of the head of this example, and fragments of textile were tied around the sculpture.
Pinkish beige matte patina, abrasions and cracks and losses.
The fetish Songye, magic sculpture Nkisi, nkishi (pl. mankishi), plays the role of mediator between gods and men. The large specimens are the collective property of an entire village, the smaller figures belong to an individual or a family. In the 16th century, the Songyes migrated from the Shaba region to settle in Kasai, Katanga and South Kivu. Their history is inseparable from that of the Luba, to whom they are related through common ...

This statuette of African art Dogon, carved in dense wood, would embody a female ancestor presenting an infant. Witness to the influence of Islam in the region, his necklace of amulets, or korte Grainy gray beige patina. Desication cracks.

These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on altars of ancestors and take part in various rituals including those of the sowing and harvesting periods. Alongside Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lébé, relating to fertility, under the spiritual authority of the Hogon, the Wagem, ancestor worship under the authority of the patriarch, the ...

African tribal art and ancestor carvings for fertility and healing rituals. Male figure of realistic type, whose keloids are drawn on the bust. These scarifications bear witness to the successive stages of initiation to which an individual had been subjected. Sometimes set with ivory or earthenware, the almond-shaped eyes are encrusted with horn. Smooth surface, mahogany and black patina.
Established on the plateaus of the People's Republic of Congo ex.Brazzaville, and not to be confused with the Bembe group of northern Lake Tanganinyika, the small group Babembé, Béembé, was influenced by the Téké rites and culture, but especially by that of the Kongos. Settled in the current Republic of Congo, the Béembé originally formed the kingdom of Kongo, with the Vili, Yombé, Bwendé and ...

African figure associated with the mythical ancestor Oso of the Kouyou, a neighboring group of the Punu in the Republic of Congo. The face and body bear numerous scarified designs, and the mouth reveals sharp teeth.
Polychrome matte patina. Erosions and cracks from desiccation. In the past, the Kouyou were divided into two totemic clans: in the west that of the panther, and in the east that of the snake. A secret male association, Ottoté, played an important political role in the appointment of chiefs. The initiation of young men ended with the revelation of the serpent god Ebongo represented in the form of a head. The Kibe-kibe or Kebekebe dances, which accompanied the ceremony, reactivated the successive stages of creation. The panther clan had a drum as its emblem. For ...

Ex-French African art collection.
The Tikars populate the western part of central Cameroon, which lies within the dense secondary forest of medium altitude, along the Mbam. Within this ecotone, the "plaine tikar" (named after its current occupants) is a depression that leans west and north respectively to the Mbam massif (and its Mapé and Kim tributaries) and the first foothills of the Plateau de Adamaoua. It extends to the east and south on a long drainage area of the main rivers of the central part of the country (Djerem, Sanaga, Benue). Ethnically, the current boundaries of the tikar country coincide with those of the Bamun in the west (Foumban), mambila in the northwest, Foulbé in the south, Babouté to the southeast (Yoko) and small individual groups (Djenti, etc.) scattered ...

Ex-German African art collection. African statuette with linear scarifications composed of small checkerboards, and a headdress chiseled with rhombuses. The position is frontal, half-bent legs anchored on a circular base, the hands resting on either side of a prominent umbilicus, enhancing the lineage of the ancestor represented. Semi-satin orange-brown patina. Desiccation cracks.
The Tabwa ("scarify" and "write") are an ethnic group found in southeastern DRC, around Lake Tanganyika. Tribes in this region, such as the Tumbwe , worship ancestors mipasi through carvings held by chiefs or sorcerers. Simple cultivators with no centralized power, the Tabwa federated around tribal chiefs after coming under the influence of the Luba. It was mainly during this period that their ...

Ex-collection African art from Belgium.
Seated figurative couple, hands on knees. Velvety brown patina, golden highlights.
The populations of the same cultural region, grouped under the name "lobi", form one fifth of the inhabitants of Burkina Faso. Although they are not very numerous in Ghana, they have also settled in the north of the Ivory Coast. It was at the end of the eighteenth 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 named Thangba Thu, to whom they turn through the worship of numerous intermediate spirits, the Thil, the latter being supposed to protect them, with the help of the diviner, against a host of plagues. ...