African Arts Gallery

Prestige sculptures in African tribal art. An African female figure would form the "receptacle of a deceased sovereign chief" (Luba, Roberts). The prominent scarifications around the navel, "center of the world" associated with lineage, testify to notions of fertility. This type of miniature stool called lupona, or kioni, kipona, kiona, depending on the source, constitutes the meeting point of the sovereign, his people, and the protective spirits and ancestors, where past and present symbolically and spiritually mingle. It once formed the seat on which the king was enthroned. The seats were placed on leopard skins during the investiture of the new chief. It was only after sitting down that his speech took on a royal and divine character. Apart from these exceptional circumstances, the ...

Plank mask whose only relief resides in a prominent forehead extended by an imposing triangular nose. The diamond-shaped mouth streaked with teeth is a particularity of certain eastern Kete masks.
Grainy matte patina, polychrome highlights, cracks.
The Kete, established between the Luba and the Songye, have intermingled with the Kuba and the Tschokwe and derive their subsistence from hunting, net fishing, and agriculture. Their matrilineal society worships nature spirits called mungitchi through offerings and incantations. Believing in reincarnation, they also fear a supreme god called mboom. The rituals of their initiation societies are different from those of the Kuba. Some Kete villages used to pay tax to the King of the Kuba. Groups borrowed masks from their neighbors ...

French collection of tribal art.
According to R. Ballarini in "The Perfect Form" (p.182), this primitive African currency is associated with the prestige of Tikar chiefs. A sort of bowl with a long handle, it also has a chain extended by a spatula-shaped blade. Grainy brown-black patina.
The Tikar populate the western part of central Cameroon which is located within the dense secondary forest of medium altitude, along the Mbam. These black iron blades were used as currency but also for offerings, wedding dowries and for major festive and ceremonial occasions. "Before the colonial era, payments in Africa were never made using coins. Transactions were made using products considered valuable because they were rare, useful, or desirable: livestock, pieces of fabric , pearls, cowrie ...

The Luba are renowned for their statuary and in particular their neckrests and stools made up of a caryatid figure. The figures adorning this neckrest to preserve the complex headdress of its owner refer to Luba royalty and tutelary spirits. But neckrests were also used to support the heads of the deceased, and sometimes, according to Albert Maesen, buried in their place. Brown satin patina, abrasions.
The Luba (Baluba in Chiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu River, hence 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 ...

This African mask Lega indicated the stage that its holder had reached within the Bwami, a learning society composed of different grades. Thick partially chipped kaolin patina. Desication cracks.
Within the Léga, the Bwami society, open to men and women, organized social and political life. There were up to seven levels of initiation, each associated with emblems. Following their exodus from Uganda during the 17th century, the Lega settled on the west bank of the Lualaba River in the DRC. The role of chief, kindi, is held by the oldest man in the clan, who must be the highest ranking. Social recognition and authority also had to be earned individually: the chief owed his selection to his heart (mutima), good character, intelligence, and irreproachable behavior. During ritual ...

Represented in a posture associated with fertility and royalty, this African sculpture indicates that the secrets of royalty, bizila belong to women thanks to their role as political intermediaries and spiritual. The hairstyle was made of braids and copper wires. The so-called "ear-shaped" scarifications, "tactile mnemonic code", are recurrent. This type of figure was also used in the context of fertility rituals: young women lacking breast milk came to touch the chest of the statue in the hope of breastfeeding more abundantly.

Filmy patina, desication cracks.
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”). The Luba have two main types ...

African mask Makonde embodying an ancestral spirit, depicting a face whose lip bears a labret.
The ancestors would return masked in order to mark their satisfaction following the initiation. The relief patterns refer to traditional Makonde tattoos and scarifications.
Smooth, velvety, golden beige patina. Desication cracks, slight losses.

The Makonde of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania wore helmet masks called lipiko during initiation ceremonies for young people. The Makonde venerate an ancestor, which explains the abundance of naturalistic female statuary. Besides the face masks worn during mapiko dances and ngoma ceremonies that educate young people about the demands of marriage and family life. the Makonde also produce body masks featuring the female ...

The result of cooperation between the nganga, the sculptor and the client, this African statuette songye was loaded with bishimba elements and accessories intended to reinforce its action. Brown patina, cracks and losses.
The fetish Songye, protective 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 ancestors.

Among the Azande African art statues, there are Kudu statues representing ancestors and Yanda statues of lower dimension, in animal or human form, having an apotropaic role. With a particularly geometric design, this sculpture offers a semi-spherical head with oversized orbits. The barrel bust has protruding arms framing the outgrowth of the umbilicus. A thick cylindrical base prolongs the morphology. Mottled clear patina. Desication crack on the back, abrasions. br> Formerly designated under the name "Niam-Niam" because considered as cannibals, the tribes grouped under the name of Zande, Azandé, settled, coming from Chad, on the border of the R.D.C. (Zaire), Sudan and the Central African Republic. The name of their ethnic group means: "those who own a lot of land", an allusion to their ...

The vernacular term "Asen" comes from the verb "sé" or to render one's duties, expresses the concept of offering, of worship. This type of altar is also found among the Ewes of Togo where it is called "Assanyi". The Yoruba of neighboring Nigeria used similar sticks, decorated with emblems representing birds, intended for diviners. These objects were used during divination ceremonies linked to the god of herbalists and occult sciences, Osanyin, or to the god of divination, Orunmila. Placed in the family courtyard, it allows one to pay homage to the deceased and thereby to the family lineage. Made of iron, the upper scene glorifies the deceased in a scene where he distinguished himself during his life. The rituals linked to these altars took place during ceremonies called "ahanbiba", ...

In the Uele region of northwestern Congo, stools come in a variety of shapes and have a variety of functions. The many groups inhabiting this region were influenced by the Mangbetu and the Zande, and chiefs and dignitaries, as well as initiates of secret societies, had such seats. This heavy stool has a concave circular seat engraved with decorative motifs. Four square uprights, arising from a reduced circular base, support the curved top. Satin patina, minor accidents.

Sketchy yet expressive features for this sculpted figure devoid of arms, carried by high slender legs rising from a cube. Between two arm stumps, a flat and reduced chest forms a slight relief.
Slightly satin-finished, abraded surface.
In the southern coastal region of Tanzania, around Dar-es-Salaam, a relatively homogeneous group produced most of the artistic productions. It includes the Swahili, Kaguru, Doé, Kwéré, Luguru, Zaramo, Kami. The second region is made up of a territory covering southern Tanzania to Mozambique, where some Makonde and the Yao, the Ngindo, Mwéra, and Makua live. In the North-East of Tanzania, the Chaga, Paré, Chamba, Zigua, Massaï, Iraqw, Gogo, and Héhé have an artistic production presenting similarities with Malagasy and Batak art, which ...

The Ubangian crucible has produced many statuettes that share certain similarities. This primitive sculpture, on which the herminette strokes appear, was indicated to us as belonging to the Ngbaka . It is distinguished by a voluminous head in which the bulging forehead gives birth to a braided hairstyle pulled backwards. The look is just suggested by a linear recess between two circular samples marking the ears. Nostrils are dug under the large nasal volume dominating a thin horizontal mouth, conferring a determined appearance. Reduced arms, placed against the bust, emphasize the volume of the abdomen. This ancient statuette could be associated with fertility and fertility. The dark brown patina with a satin feel, lustrous by oil anointings, is locally abraded. Desication cracks.

Carved from dense wood, this protective female figure is said to be associated with the mythical ancestor and to intervene in human fertility, land fertility, and successful hunts. The face forms a miniature replica of the powerful mukishi wa pwo nyi cijingo ca tangwa mask topped with the kambu ja tota. ("Chokwe and Their Bantu Neighbours" Rodrigues de Areia.) br> Brown satin patina. Abrasions, cracks.
br>Originally Lunda, the Lwena , Luena, emigrated from Angola to Zaire in the 19th century, pushed out by the Chokwe. When some became slave traders, others, the Lovale, found refuge in Zambia. Their society is matrilineal, exogamous and polygamous. The Lwena became known for their sculptures embodying figures of deceased ancestors and chiefs, and their masks related to the ...

French African art collection.
Prestigious African comb with a traditional doll motif. Light brown satin smooth patina. The Zaramo and the tribes around them designed dolls generally associated with fertility, but to which other virtues would be attributed. Its primary role is played during the period of confinement of the young initiate Zaramo. The novice will behave towards the object as with a child, and will dance with it during the closing ceremonies of the initiation. In case the young woman does not conceive, she will adopt the "child". Among the Zaramo, this carved motif is repeated on the top of canes, decorates ritual objects, such as combs, hairpins, and even appears on burial posts.

Les régalia des Tchokwe dans l'art africain
Emblême de pouvoir faisant partie des régalia, marque d'ostentation, ce sceptre représente la puissance politique et symbolique.  Sculpture en ronde-bosse réalisée par un artiste au service du chef, associée au culte thérapeutique de type Hamba, la figure féminine Chokwe ou Lwena incarne l'ancêtre féminin qui est censée garantir les naissances ou la guérison. Le personnage qui illustre également la seconde épouse du chef mythique Chibinda Ilunga arbore une coiffure bombée telle un casque.
Patine brune satinée, résidus de kaolin.
Paisiblement installés en Angola oriental jusqu'au XVIème siècle, les Chokwé ont ensuite été soumis à l'empire lunda dont ils ont hérité un nouveau système hiérarchique et la sacralité du pouvoir. ...

Swiss African art collection.
African statuette Nkisi, nkishi (pl. mankishi) of the Songye whose face reproduces the kifwebe mask. The arms, whose hands surround the protruding abdomen, provide space to carefully grasp the sculpture using metal hooks, as dictated by custom.
Satin patina. Abrasions.
These protective fetishes for homes are among the most popular in Africa. The Nkisi plays the role of mediator between god and men, responsible for protecting against various evils. The large specimens are the collective property of an entire village, and the smaller figures belong to an individual or a family. In the 16th century, the Songyes migrated from the Shaba region to settle on the left bank of the Lualaba. Their society is organized in a patriarchal way. ...

Polychrome naturalist statue of the Yoruba type. Communication with the afterlife rested on a maternal figure who embodied for the Yoruba people one of the many female goddesses, the goddess of the earth Onilé ("owner of the House"), guarantor of longevity, peace, and resources, and linked to the powerful Ogboni society among the Yoruba Egba and Ijebu. She could also embody Orunmila, goddess of divination.
Intended to be enthroned on an altar, this type of sculpture was venerated by the members of the powerful Ogboni society, or Osugbo, responsible for justice.
Abraded crusty patina, desiccation cracks.
Centered on the veneration of its gods, or orisà, the Yoruba religion relies on artistic sculptures with coded messages (aroko). The kingdoms of Oyo and Ijebu arose ...

Former Belgian collection of African art .
African mask testifying to the stage that its owner had reached within the Bwami, an apprenticeship society composed of different grades. Residues of kaolin and burgundy pigments. Erosions. Height including beard: 42 cm.br /> On the west bank of the Lualaba River, in the DRC, the Bwami society of the Lega, open to men and women, organized social and political life. There were up to seven levels of initiation, each associated with emblems. During ritual ceremonies, the Idumu masks were presented to the initiates placed on a barrier and surrounded by smaller masks. The teacher would lead 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 ...

Belgian African art collection.
African mask appearing in Tanzania during the dance ceremonies of the dry season. Geometric lines accentuated by linear scarifications. Reddish matte patina, erosions. Height with base: 39 cm.
The Luo, Kuria, Haya and Ziba, the Kéréwé, Karagwé, Sukuma and Nyamézi are established in the central western and central region of Tanzania. Along the shores of Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa, and Lake Nyassa, the Ha, Jiji, Bendé, Tongwé, Holoholo, Fipa, Manbwé, Kondé, Kisi and Ngoni produced figurative statues, terracotta sculptures and inset masks of teeth.

African mask of initiation, Mbuya, with large notched eyelids, an upturned nose, and an open mouth with sharp teeth. It has a natural fiber cap. Height on base: 45 cm.
The Pende Westerners live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Easterners have established themselves on the banks of the Kasai downstream of Tshikapa. The influences of the neighboringethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba and Salempasu have been imprinted on their large sculpture of tribal art. Within this diversity the realistic Mbuya masks, produced every ten years, have a festive function, and embody different characters difficult to differentiate without their costume, including the fumu chief. > or ufumu, the soothsayer and his wife, the prostitute, the jester, tundu, the possessed, etc... Mbuya ...