African Arts Gallery

African art and Vodun tribal worship of the Ewe and Fon populations
This sculpture represents a kneeling woman on a circular base, hands placed under the breasts. The physiognomy is crude. The whole thing is coated with crusty dark pigments. Desication crack.
In Togo, African fetishes are part of rituals according to the intentions of their owner. Witch doctors, following the fa divination ritual using palm nuts, make them to order to offer protective and medicinal properties, but also offer more classic ready-to-use versions.


The Ewe, often confused with the Minas, are Togo's largest ethnic group. They are also found as minorities in Ghana, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria. According to Hélène Joubert, the cults rendered to the Yoruba gods, the orisha, and ...

Commemorating a local chief, responsible for interceding for men with the gods, this Hemba tribal art figure stands out for the contrast of its proportions.

Generally made in iroko, these ritual sculptures were venerated by a particular clan and stored in rooms for funerary use in the chief's house.
Matte black patina. Desication cracks, and numerous erosions.
The Hemba, established in the south-east of Zaire, on the right bank of the Lualaba, were for a long time subject to the neighboring Luba empire, which had a certain influence on their culture. Ancestor worship, whose effigies have long been attributed to the Luba, is central to Hemba society. Genealogy is indeed the guarantor of privileges and the distribution of land. The ancestors are considered to have an ...

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.

Shallow, features carved in low relief, this Lele mask is distinguished by its highlighted eyes and mouth and pointed nose. Its smooth, lustrous surface bears a reddish-brown patina, darker in places. Erosions.
The Lélé, close to the Tschokwe and the Pende, live in the west of the Kuba kingdom and share common cultural specificities with the Bushoong of the Kuba country. Both groups adorn their prestige objects with similar motifs. Their society headed by a "nymi" king, includes three classes, that of the Tundu or warlords, the Batshwa ("those who reject the Tundu authority") and the Wongo called by the name of the neighboring ethnic group. The ritual ceremonies are under the authority of the oldest, chiefs of each village who hold the secrets of medicinal plants. These elders once ...

Triangular volume in which the sharp lines affirm a solemn physiognomy. The forehead is underlined with cowries, encrusted in a resinous material, forming linear patterns. These patterns are discreetly repeated on the face, engraved on the surface in a succession of small circles. Interesting oiled brown patina dotted with erosions.
In African art, the Marka , Maraka in Bamana, Warka, or Sarakolé, are Muslim city dwellers of Soninke origin, established in southern Niger, scattered since the end of the Ghana Empire in Mali, Mauritania and Senegal . They now speak Bamana and have adopted many of the Bambara traditions, such as the Ntomo and the Koré, initiation societies that used masks during their ceremonies. The Bambara and Marka African art sculptors are part of the ...

br>Often associated with the therapeutic cult of the Hamba type, this type of female figure for personal use incarnates a female ancestor believed to guarantee fertility or healing. They could be arranged around the muyombo altar, a tree at the foot of which sacrifices and offerings were once made.
Glossy patina with abrasions of use.

Traces of ocher pigments. Crack at the base. Peacefully settled in eastern Angola until the 16th century, the Chokwé were then subjected to the Lunda empire from which they inherited a new hierarchical system and the sacredness of power. Nevertheless, the Chokwé never fully adopted these new social and political contributions. Three centuries later, they ended up seizing the capital of the Lunda weakened by internal conflicts, thus ...

This Dogon iron was collected in the 1950s by Monsieur Arnaud, accompanying Alain Bilot,
renowned collector of Dogon art, during study trips to Mali.

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 cure burns. Small metal objects, made using the lost wax technique, were widespread in the region of the interior delta of the Niger, copper reaching it thanks to the trans-Saharan trade. Excavations on ...

These African statuettes , ritual charms belonging to the lineages and ensuring protection against enemies, were made following the instructions of Nganga ngoombu and the sponsor of the object. The traditional sculptures were then activated with rituals and incantatory formulas, and additions in the form of talismans or medicinal substances. The characteristic headdress is that of the heads of land. These sculptures were often hung in the boxes. Satin patina, abrasions.
Hierarchical and authoritarian, made up of formidable warriors, Yaka society was governed by lineage chiefs with the right to life and death over their subjects. Hunting and the resulting prestige are the opportunity nowadays for the Yaka to invoke ancestors and to evoke rituals with the help of ...

This small Hemba protective figure, whose characteristics were once attributed to the Luba, embodies an ancestor. Made to communicate with the tutelary spirits, this sculpture was part of the "mvidye", intermediaries between the spiritual world and individuals, who could also embody nature spirits among the Luba of Kasai. Hemba clan chiefs had several statues of ancestors that they venerated and to which they dedicated offerings in order to establish their legitimacy. This figure adopts the classical position, hands emphasizing a protruding abdomen, symbol of lineage. It also has a sophisticated headdress, hollowed out in the shape of a cross. Dark brown piece whose projections are abraded by use. Satin surface. The Luba (Baluba in Tchiluba) are a people of Central Africa, ...

African Dogon art.
Feminine figure with straight upright arms, it is embellished with sculpted effigies of the Nommos, mythical ancestors born of the god Amma. Irregular matt surface, eroded wood, gullies, cracks. The African tribal statues of the Dogon can also be the object of worship by the entire community when they commemorate, for example, the founding of the village. These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on ancestor altars and participate in various rituals including those of the seed and harvest periods. Their functions, however, remain little known. Influenced stylistically by the Tellem whom they replaced in the Bandiagara region from the 15th century, the Dogon adopted this same vertical position in their statuary. Heirs to the Tellem ...

The Vili, the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembé, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo were the Kôngo group, led by king ntotela. Their kingdom reached its peak in the 16th century with the ivory, copper and slave trade. Similarly, beliefs and traditions, they produced a statuary with a codified gesture in relation to their worldview. Among the Kongo, nganga took care of rituals by activating a spiritual force with a nkondi (pl. nkissi). The term nkisi was then used to refer to the terms of 'sacred' or 'divine'.
The statuette, hands joining on the sternum, seems to fit the category of Lumweno , designed to protect what surrounds the birth of twins who would be endowed with powerful abilities. The mother will therefore have a fetish sculpted in order to divert any evil force. ...

br>The facial scarifications ichi indicate that this igbo sculpture depicts a titled woman wearing a horned crest. She is pictured standing with her arms and legs spread out in a determined attitude, a child on her back. Locally flaked semi-saturated grey patina. Erosions and cracks.
Seeional body marks, tattoos and scarifications indicated the grade achieved in the initiation society. This effigy, embodying a tutelary deity, intermediate between men and the god named Chukwu was destined to be placed in the obu (Sing.: obi), houses of the men of the Cross River. The culture Igbo originates from the mythology of the Kingdom Nri of Nigeria, according to which the gods brought to believers palm oil, cassava, and yam-based remedies. These effigies often show symbolic objects, ...

The attitude of this sculpted figure is characteristic of the Mbole and Yela figures of the original Mbole Lilwa: legs bent, arms bent unnaturally, hands resting on the thighs. Locally abraded velvety brown patina.
Lualaba province had several similar ethnic groups with similar associations. The Mboles are known for their statues embodying, according to D. Biebuck, hanged, named ofika . The lilwa , an association with dogmatic initiation rites, had a custom of judging and condemning to hanging those guilty of violations of the imposed rules. These offences ranged from murder to adultery to breaking the secrecy surrounding the lilwa . Disgraced, the bodies of convicts had no funeral sat and were buried in the forest. It was during the final ceremonies, presided over by a notable ...

Less famous for their statues than for their masks, the Gurunsi used statues depicting ancestors for divination or that were simply placed on altars to be honored. This sober sculpture, with a satin patina that oil anointings have helped to shine, is distinguished by its broad shoulders extending from arms spread out of the bust and small digitized palms. It is devoid of scarifications and adornments. Missing on one of the feet.
On a religious level, the Gurunsi believe in a higher being, Yi, who retired from the world after creating it and whose altar occupies the center of the village. Yi sent, to represent him, the Su spirit, embodied in all masks and honored by an altar. Among the Gourunsi, the Lela , Winiama , Nuna and Nunuma are the main mask sculptors. They influenced the ...

Ex-Swiss African art collection.
This statuette composed of figures placed back to back recalls the metoko sculpture by the exorbed cylindrical pupils. It would however be a figure "iginga" of the Lega with didactic vocation. The surface, unpolished, shows adze strokes and residual kaolin inlays.
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, the latter referring largely to proverbs and sayings. Those who were not allowed to see the object, in order to be protected from it, had to submit to costly ceremonies, and sometimes even join the lower rank of Bwami, the kongabulumbu, at great expense to the ...

French African tribal art collection.
Old Baoule loom comb, the ends of which are lined with leather strips on which fur still remains. A carrying strap was made with a cord. Beautiful patina of use. In Côte d'Ivoire, the most ordinary objects had to meet aesthetic criteria. Furniture, ornaments, utensils, fabrics, are a pretext for refined artistic expression on the part of craftsmen and sculptors. The latter, mainly farmers, carry out this activity in addition. Some of them also produce pieces for neighboring ethnic groups. The creative talent remains however linked to the occult power of the craftsman, the ritual requirements surrounding the work of wood. The technique of cotton weaving spread to West Africa through the movement of the Dioulas. Before ...

This mask has characteristics common to the Dan and Toma of Liberia. On the protruding forehead is a face associated with "passport masks", miniature masks that function as magical talismans. Institutions such as the Poro male society are used by different tribes on both sides of the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The youth initiations associated with these associations culminate in festive masked ceremonies. Velvety matte patina.
The Toma of Guinea, called Loma in Liberia, live within the forest, at high altitude. They are renowned for their landai board masks intended to enliven the initiation rites of the poro association that structures their society, and which represent bush spirits. As soon as the landai mask appeared, the initiates would go to the forest to ...

In African art, this anthropomorphic sculpture of the Lega, lacking arms, was intended for an initiate of the Bwami .
It was part of a set used throughout the initiations.
The teacher guided the lega aspirant to a place where African lega 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 objects, true metaphors referring largely to proverbs and sayings.
Those who were not allowed to see the object, in order to be protected from it, had to undergo costly ceremonies, and sometimes even join the lower rank of the Bwami,kongabulumbu, at great expense to the families. Each of these initiations took place over seven days and involved at least seven performances. ...

Ex-collection of French African tribal art.
Asaned in order to present the hollowed-out gourd mboko which was filled with kaolin whose visitors to the king were silently symbolizing purity and the spiritual world, this female figure offers a delicately modeled face. According to P.Nooter these figures represented the soothsayer's wife, which underlines its importance in the process of divination bilumbu
The healers of the society Buhabo and the soothsayers Mbudye also used it.
On some Luba though a woman, she would represent the first soothsayer Luba, and would also be an allegory of royalty linked to the powerful society of the Mbudye associated with royal power. Patine mate.

Luba (Baluba in Tchiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is the ...

African art among the Lega
. Among the many others used throughout the initiations, this African sculpture featuring a head carried on a conical neck belonged to an initiate of the Bwami.

Light velvety patina.
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 the metaphors evoked by the sculptures, the latter referring largely to proverbs and sayings. Those who were not allowed to see the object, in order to be protected from it, had to undergo costly ceremonies, and sometimes even join the lower rank of the Bwami, the kongabulumbu ,at great expense to the families. Each of these initiations took place over seven ...

This Dogon iron was collected in the 1950s by Monsieur Arnaud, accompanying Alain Bilot,
renowned collector of Dogon art, during study trips to Mali.

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 cure burns. Small metal objects, made using the lost wax technique, were widespread in the region of the interior delta of the Niger, copper reaching it thanks to the trans-Saharan trade. Excavations ...