African Arts Gallery

Emblematic puppet intended for the dance kibe-kibe, or Ebokita (S.Diakonoff) this sculpture refers to the mythical ancestor Oso. The face bears scarified patterns, and the mouth reveals sharp teeth.
Polychrome satin patina. Cracks.
Formerly, 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 men's association, Ottoté, played an important political role in the appointment of chiefs. The initiation of young people 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 their emblem. For its part, that of the snake had sculpted ...

br>Resuming in miniature a mask from the Kifwebe society, this sculpture adorned the box of its holder. Chipped matte patina.
Height on base: 46 cm.
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. Their history is inseparable from that of the Luba, to whom they are related through common ancestors. Very present in their society, divination made it possible to discover sorcerers and to shed light on the causes of the misfortunes that struck individuals. Three types of African Kifwebe masks are distinguished: the masculine (kilume) generally with a high crest, the feminine (kikashi) would present a more modest or even absent crest, and finally the largest embodying ...

Anthropomorphic water pipe featuring a slender female figure, whose bust is inspired by the doll statuettes Mpundu of female societies. The perosnnage sits on the spherical pipe bowl made of a calabash. These pipes were used to reduce the harshness of fresh tobacco. Black oiled patina. Desiccation cracks.
The Tabwa ("to scarify" and "to 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 witch doctors.
Simple cultivators without centralized power, the Tabwa federated around tribal chiefs after coming under the influence of the Luba. It was mainly during this period that their artistic current was expressed mainly through statues but also ...

The cut carriers in the traditional African art of Nigeria.
The priestess, the cheeks marked with scarifications in three vertical claws, is on one knee and presents a cup for offerings or divination, supported by four Caryatidic figures. The lid is engraved with decorative motifs. The Yoruba religion is based on artistic sculptures with coded messages ( aroko). These spirits are supposed to intercede with the supreme god Olodumare.
Patine polychrome mate. Many erosions.
The Yoruba society is very organized and has several associations whose roles vary. While the egbe society is strengthening social norms, the aro unites farmers. The gelede has more esoteric and religious aims. The notables come together in a society called susu . Offering cups, some of which were used ...

This figure of African art Yaka depicts a lineage leader sitting on a throne. These lineage charms, which provided protection against enemies, were carried out according to the instructions of the Nganga ngoombu and the object's sponsor. Animal figures overcoming human sculptures or Yaka masks refer to various folk tales, proverbs and hunting stories.
Lack at one of the armrests of the seat. A black patina satinée.br / Hierarchical and authoritarian, composed of fearsome warriors, Yaka society was ruled by lineage leaders with the right to life and death over their subjects. Hunting and the prestige that comes with it are an opportunity today for the Yaka to summon ancestors and resort to rituals with the help of charms. The initiation society of young people is the n-khanda , which ...

Three types of African masks represent the three ranks of the Salampasu men's society: warriors, chiefs and hunters. All have a bulbous front under which are enshrined in narrow slits between which points an imposing triangular nose. The mouth opens on to teeth cut into spikes, which are shown here by metal spikes. The decorative use of copper and brass, in the form of a small circular headdress and the insertion of cabochons and upholstery nails, embellishes this copy which is divided into two contrasting tones, which helps to offer a sure vision. Eroded contours on the back of the mask. Living from hunting and agriculture, a warrior people, the Salampasu form a tribe of the Lulua group and are settled between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, east of the Kasai River. They are ...

This hemispherical container, a jar equipped with a neck, is said to fall into the category of "bulabir", which become sacred after the death of their owner (Daniela Bologno). The populations of the same cultural region, grouped under the name "lobi", form one fifth of the inhabitants of Burkina Faso. They are not very numerous in Ghana and have also settled in the north of the Ivory Coast. It was at the end of the 18th 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, who are supposed to protect them, with the help of the diviner, against a host of plagues. ...

This Dogon sculpture was acquired by its owner in the central part of the Bandiagara cliff, bombou-toro. Four figures surmounted by a polyhedron are leaned against a central trunk. Their feet disappear into a circular base. The stretched arms, following the narrow bust, are extended by hands resting on the bent knees.
Eroded surface imprinted with blackish residues, scattered, consecutive to the libations of use. Abrasions and desiccation cracks.
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. The role of carved figures was usually to protect or heal the sick. Libations and ...

Ex-collection French African tribal art
Dred volumes and delicately treated features are the prerogative of this reduced mask. Satin patina.
Appeared to the Okuyi African masks of Punu ethnic groups tribes Shira , African masks produced by peripheral groups, Vuvi, Galoa and Mitsogho, and the Masangos located east of the Mitsoghos, are also covered with white pigments with an apotropaic purpose. br / The Mitsogho, Sogho, is established in a forested region on the right bank of the Ngoumé River in central Gabon. The male initiation society Bwiti which has a system of reliquaries comparable to that of the Fang and Kota, formed the cohesion of the Mitsogho families. Their masks were displayed at the funeral, and stored in the men's initiation house ebanza . The Vuvi produced ...

This item of songye African mask, the kikashi, features hollowed-out palpebral slits, stretched towards the temples and a flat naso-frontal crest, in the form of a rib on which some blackish pigments remain. The protruding mouth was raised with a red light. Parallel furrows, encrusted with white kaolin, adorn the surface of the wood, symbolizing plumage and the link with death. Areas of abrasion and a break on the back of the mask are noteworthy. The patina is dry and velvety. Three variants of this mask Kifwebe (pl. Bifwebe) or "Chasing the mort" (Roberts) stand out: the masculine (kilume) usually with a high crest, the feminine (kikashi) with a very low crest see absent, and finally the largest embodying the (kia ndoshi). This type of mask, still used today, appears to originate from ...

Ex-collection Swiss African art.
Statuette-fetish Nkisi , nkishi (pl. mankishi) anthropomorphic, her arms are positioned around a protruding abdomen. The particularity of these objects most often resides in the angular treatment of the form, the imposing triangular face whose chin often blends into a beard, the cracks of the mouth spread in grin, and the attitude deported to the front of the bulging belly. Brown, sained skate. These home protection fetishes are among the most prized in Africa. Nkisi plays the role of mediator between gods and humans. Large copies are the collective property of an entire village, while 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. ...

Ex-Collection Swiss African Art.
The ruler of the kingdoms of tribal Africa did not sit on the ground in any way, a great diversity of foundations were drawn up by the sculptors, such as this insignia of sovereignty, cephalomorphic, embodying the power of the Mangbetu leader. The seat from which arise two small brass domes associated with fertility, is supported by four feet. It is covered with oiled leather while the contours are embellished with large upholstery nails. The high hairstyle is characteristic of that of the Mangbetu aristocrats: from an early age, children suffered a compression of the cranial box by means of raffia bonds. Later, the Mangbetu knitted their hair on wicker strands and applied a headband to the forehead to extract the hair and produce this particular ...

Commonly called "colon" but sometimes embodying a type of "ideal spouse" according to individual criteria, this male figure is coated with a polychrome patina (African Art Western Eyes, Baule", Vogel, p.253 to 257). Two types of statues are produced by the Baule in the ritual context: Waka-Sona statues, "being of wood" in Baule, evoke an assié oussou, being of the earth. They are part of a type of statues intended to be used as a medium tool by the diviners komien, the latter being selected by the spirits asye usu in order to communicate revelations from the beyond. The second type of statues, made according to the indications of the diviner, are the spouses of the afterlife, male, the Blolo bian or female, the blolo bia. This type of "companion" was abandoned or given up after the ...

The African art of Benin is described as court art because it is closely associated with the king, known as the Oba. The tradition of bronze court objects from the Benin Kingdom dates back to the 14th century. The palace altars were topped with heads, statues, carved ivory tusks, bells and staves. They were used to commemorate an oba and to get in touch with his spirit. This late sculpture, reminiscent of those made when the queen died, features a queen mother of Benin named the Iyoba, whose neck is encircled with multiple necklaces of coral beads. Her high hairstyle was also made up of a mesh of pearls falling on either side of her face. After the birth of the future king, the queen was "removed" from power and could no longer father. But at the end of the 15th century the Oba Esigie ...

A large sculpture, with pure shapes, represents the mythical bird that is one of the five animals of the Senoufo cosmogony, and more precisely the calao. Evoked for morphological and behavioural criteria, it decorates, in its miniature version, many objects of African senoufo art. Its widely deployed wings reveal powerful lower limbs resting on a fragmented base. Its long beak, "interpreted as the figuration of the male sexual organ" perpetuating the life of the community, returns to land on the abdomen of the animal.
Linked to the Poro society that introduced young boys from the age of seven in a succession of three cycles lasting seven years, this sculpture of the Setien was deposited in the sacred enclosure.
A native repair is visible on one of the wings and a sign, or ...

Prestigious sculptures in African art kuba.
The anthropomorphic cut refers to a female ancestor. In the Kuba groups, a wide variety of carved cups with figurative motifs are intended to highlight the prestige of their holder. The character whose head is hollowed out here adopts compacted proportions.
Satin patina.


The extremely organized and hierarchical Kuba society placed a king or nyim at its center, inspiring the statuary of the ethnic group.
This was considered to be of divine origin. Both head of the kingdom and of the bushoong chiefdom, he was attributed supernatural virtues from witchcraft or ancestors. He therefore ensured the sustainability of his subjects, whether through harvests, rain or the birth of children. These magical attributes were ...

African art from Benin is described as court art because it is closely associated with the king, known as the Oba. The tradition of bronze court objects in the Benin kingdom dates back to the 14th century. The many bronze alloy heads and statues created by Benin artists were reserved for the exclusive use of the inhabitants of the royal palace and, more often than not, placed on altars consecrated by each new Oba. These rectangular altars were topped with heads, statues, carved ivory tusks, bells and sticks. They were used to commemorate an oba and to make contact with his spirit. This late sculpture, reminiscent of those made at the death of the queen, depicts a queen mother of Benin named the Iyoba, whose neck is encircled with multiple coral bead necklaces. Her high headdress also ...