African Arts Gallery

The figure Kakulu ka mpito whose arms are absent or attached to the trunk, would refer to a man who suffers from the infidelities of his wife. He is also called Mukobania, to refer to a young man whose decision to invite strangers would have been disastrous. This character frequently wears a hood of goat or felid hair from which fragments of animal skin remain. Grainy residue is embedded between the facial features. Patina of blackish use. Velvety patina encrusted with ochre. Erosions.
The African art of the Lega, Balega, or even Warega, is distinguished by its initiation statuettes, also made of ivory, some of which were kept in a basket intended for the highest ranking Bwami from different communities. This type of Iginga statuette ( Maginga in the plural), was the property of ...

Evoking the ancestor of the clan as a mediating figure, the character presents body scarifications associated with his rank and symbolically supports his chest. The Yombe indeed adorned their textiles, mats and loincloths, with this type of lozenge pattern related to proverbs glorifying work and social unity. The glazed eyes underline the ability of the ancestress to perceive the beyond, to discern hidden things.
Glossy patina, residual ocher encrustations. Erosions on the base.
Belonging to the Kongo group, the Yombe are established on the West African coast, in the south-west of the Republic of Congo and in Angola. Their statuary includes remarkable maternities. Among the Kongo , the nganga was responsible for the rituals by activating a spiritual force with ...

Traditional divination instruments in Chokwe and Kongo African art sculpture.

Accessory of the diviner, this zoomorphic instrument intended for divination is now without its pusher. The latter, in the form of a wooden button, was rubbed on the flat part of the object in order to know the answer to the questions asked. These tools, used to solve various problems, take up animal motifs associated with the spirits of nature but also decorative motifs in use. The Lunda would be at the origin of divination among the Chokwe. Abraded velvety patina, ocher brown.
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 ...

This stick carved with a pattern like the masks of the group is part of the chief's figurative insignia. Glossy black brown patina. 36 cm on base.
The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Eastern settled on the banks of the Kasaï downstream from Tshikapa. The influences of neighboring ethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba and Salempasu imprinted on their large tribal art sculpture. Within this diversity, the Mbuya masks, realistic, produced every ten years, take on a festive function, and embody different characters, including the chief, the diviner and his wife, the prostitute, the possessed, etc... The masks of initiation and those of power, the minganji, represent the ancestors and occur successively during the same ceremonies, agricultural festivals, ...

Ancestor statuette marked with keloid signs testifying to the successive stages of initiation to which the individual was subjected. A bilongo load is attached to the back. Sometimes set with ivory or earthenware, the almond-shaped eyes are encrusted with bone. Brilliant orange-brown patina.
Established on the plateaus of the People's Republic of Congo ex. Brazzaville, and not to be confused with the Bembe group north of Lake Tanganinyika, the small Bwende group was influenced by Téké rites and culture , but especially by that of the Kongo. 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. Their kingdom reached its peak in the 16th century with the trade in ivory, copper and the slave trade. With ...

This statuette evoking the mythical ancestor of the Kongo is represented kneeling on a turtle, carrying a calabash. Kongo myths or proverbs illustrate the various qualities of prudence, longevity, etc., of the turtle. The deciphering of this type of sculpture requires knowledge of the Kongo sayings. Cracks of desiccation. Satin patina.
The Solongo cultures of Angola and Yombé were largely influenced by theKongo kingdom from which they borrowed naturalistic statuary and religious rites, particularly by means of carved fetishes.
In the 13th century, the Kongo people, led by their king Ne Kongo, settled in a region at the crossroads of the present-day DRC, Angola and Gabon. Two centuries later, the Portuguese came into contact with the Kongo and converted their king to ...

African statuette carved from the Kongo, this female effigy embodies the clan ancestor, a mediating figure.
The child would embody the matrilineal transmission of power.
The mouth is gaping, the eyes seem exorbitant, underlining the capacity of the ancestress to discern occult things. The use of this type of sculpture remains unknown. However, they frequently formed the motif carved at the top of the chiefs' canes. Dark brown lustrous patina. Abrasions.
A clan of the Kongo group, the Yombe are established on the West African coast, in the southwestern Republic of the Congo and in Angola. Their statuary includes remarkable maternities. Among the Kongo , the nganga took charge of rituals by activating a spiritual force with a nkondi (pl. nkissi). The ...

Initiation rituals and Ngbaka tribal art. A thick, shallow surface bears features and cheeks in slight relief on a relatively flat face. Crosshatched lips indicate dentition, parallel lines traditional keloid scars. Velvety brown patina. Height on base : 44 cm. A tribe settled on the left bank of the Ubangui, the Ngbaka practice agriculture, and their artistic achievements were inspired by those of the neighboring Ngbandi and Ngombe tribes, with one distinctive feature, however, the line of the forehead dotted with linear keloids. They are organized into tribes without political unity, under the tutelage of chief wan and worship a god named Gale through the worship of nature spirits. Young people are prepared for adulthood through rituals called " gaza" and trained by ancient ...

A schematic anthropomorphic fertility doll, whose head appearance varies by region, it represents a spirit with which a relationship is established. The tubular bust, slightly swollen at the abdomen, has a chest. The angular, stylized head evokes the feminine crest hairstyle, the parallel incisions, the scarifications and the braids of the ethnic group. Beautiful light brown patina abraded and sained by contact.
The use of dolls by young African women is not done exclusively within the initiation context. When menstruation occurs, the girl is considered a potential mother. In many ethnic groups, the search for fertility is then done through rituals. Wooden figures will then be carved, some reflecting both genres, in many cases covered with pearls and clothing. During the period of ...

Rare crest mask, punu face masks being more common. A large sagittal crest shell, enhanced with two curved duvets, 'buyi', characteristic of the old punu masks according to L. Perrois and C. Grand-Dufay in Punu (ED. 5Continents), forms the braided headdress of this mask carved in a reddish wood, once coated with ritual kaolin, mpemba . A thick flared base makes up the neck, whose openings made it possible to secure the fabric enveloping the dancer. Patine mate, imprinted with the use of a mask that has obviously danced.
The white masks of Gabon, itengi , (pl. bitengi) were associated with the various secret societies of Gabon, including the Bwiti, Bwete, and the Mwiri, the latter spanning several levels of initiation, to which all Punu men belonged, and whose emblem was the caiman ...

Belgian African art collection.
Anthropomorphic spoons are recurrent in tribal art. This one for rustic that it is is not less very interesting by the simplicity of its form and the sculpture. We find there the attributes of Luba art including the mythical hairstyle of this ethnic group. Traces of use and wear. Black and slightly crusty patina.
The Luba (Baluba in Chiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu river, thus the name (Baluba, which means “the Lubas”). They were born from a secession of the Songhoy ethnic group, under the leadership of Ilunga Kalala who killed the old king Kongolo who has since been revered in the form of a python. In the 16th century they created a state, organized as a decentralized ...

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 ...

African art and fetishes nkisi
This fetish statue Nkisi , nkishi (pl. mankishi) does not seem to have passed into the hands of the fetishist, the umbilical, hollowed out in cup, not having a magic charge. Other elements strengthening its "power ", and associated with rituals, such as horn, necklaces, insertion or metal veneer, being also absent. The particularity of these objects most often resides in the angular treatment of the form, the imposing triangular face whose chin blends into the beard, the mouth cracks raised in rictus, and the attitude deported to the front of the bulging belly. Dark brown patina with blackish residual inlays, satin touch. Desication cracks.

These home protection fetishes are among the most prized in Africa. Nkisi plays the role of mediator ...

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, ...