Tribal Art

Sculpted in soft wood, this mask offers a harmoniously modeled face in which fine lines are inscribed. Small ears coated with kaolin stand out against the matte red ocher patina.
Edge abrasions.
Height on base: 37 cm.
Present along the Gabonese coast, the Vili broke away from the Kongo kingdom in the 16th century and the Loango kingdom became a powerful state. Now urbanized for the most part, they still integrate traditional associations, depending on the worship of ancestors such as Mbouiti or Bieri. Their masks are used by the Ndunga or Djembe association, but also for the funerals of dignitaries and during traditional initiations. Still others are reserved for diviners.
The Vili , the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembe, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo ...

Ex-Belgian African art collection.
Embodying the spirit of a young Igbo girl, but always worn by young men during harvest festivals or celebrations associated with the spirit of the land, this mask takes up Igbo conventions, thin face coated in white, tattoos and scarified patterns. White refers to ancestral spirits, these masks frequently accompanying the deceased during funeral rites. Matte patina, abrasions, halos and abrasions. Height on base: 38 cm.
The Igbo live in the forest in southeastern Nigeria. They managed to combine a deep sense of individuality with an equally strong sense of belonging to the group. Their political system is complex and little known. The village is the most important social unit, the smallest being the extended family. Each village has a high ...

Long Ijo mask depicting a fish. The fins are removable. Abraded polychrome patina.
The Ijo of the Niger Delta live mainly from fishing and agriculture, and their small villages being located in marshy areas west of the Nun River, their cosmogony has naturally centered around this environment. References to their warrior past abound on the other hand in reliquaries, rituals and masked celebrations.
Their masks and other artistic productions are intended to honor the aquatic spirits, oru or owuamapu, whom they worship and to whom sacrifices were made. Fishermen had to be careful not to offend these spirits, otherwise they could bring down their wrath by means of the various dangerous animal species of the region, such as hippopotamuses, crocodiles or pythons. The Ijo also ...

African Art Dogon.
Human and animal bas-reliefs, relating to the rich Dogon cosmogony, alternate on the abraded surface of this old shutter, the contours of which are bordered by a frieze of diamonds. Natural matte patina.
Desication cracks, erosions.
Among the Dogon, the Nommo, the mythical ancestor, is said to have founded the eight lineages of Dogon and instilled weaving, the art of blacksmithing, and agriculture in their human descendants.
The figures may symbolize previous generations, mythical ancestors, but the owners of the attic are also frequently featured. The motifs present on the doors in Mali, apart from their decorative value, are intended to deter the intruder, whether human or animal, from entering. The locks, like the doors, are cut in wood ...

Old statue depicting a female subject with slender shapes, a vase crowning the head with fine features. The slender arms, arched around the narrow bust, extend into fingered hands framing the subtle bulge of the abdomen. Between the reduced breasts runs an adornment of cowries symbolizing fertility. Residues encrusted with kaolin libations. Desication erosions and cracks.
About sixty ethnic groups populate Côte d'Ivoire, including the Baoulé, in the center, Akans from Ghana. Two types of statues are produced by the Baoulé, Baulé, in the ritual context: The Waka-Sona statues, "being of wood" in baoulé, evoke a seated oussou, being of the earth. They are one of a type of statues intended to be used as medium tools by Komian soothsayers, the latter being selected by asye usu spirits ...

The African masks of Burkina Faso
This large helmet mask has a crest whose flat and openwork structure, behind which rise horns, offers elements such as bird beaks. The decorative patterns in triangles are abraded. Abraded matte patina, minor desiccation cracks.
A Mandingo people, most of whom live in eastern Burkina Faso, but also in southern Mali, the culture of the Bobo Fing is similar to that of the Bambara. In each village altars are erected under the authority of the blacksmiths, priests of the cult of Dwo, but the Bobo also venerate secondary spirits and those of the ancestors. In addition to objects carved from wood, they also make masks out of fiber sheets which they will wear during ceremonies in order to establish a relationship with the spiritual world. The most ...

Spectacular tribal mask used for protective purposes, it was once used by the initiates of male secret societies during their initiation rites and funerals. It was also supposed to protect circumcised youth from evil influences. This mask dances by imitating all the attitudes of the animals represented. Powerful mask, hybrid snake, gazelle, chameleon and crocodile, intended to communicate with the spirits of the forest, it was worn obliquely on the head. Brick red polychromy, dark blue, black and white. Locally flaked matte patina. Abrasions, cracks.
Mêlés in Nalu and Landuman, the Baga live along the coasts of Guinea-Bissau in areas of swamps flooded six months a year. They believe in a creative god called Nagu , Naku , which they do not represent, and which is accompanied by a ...

The African art of Benin, a court art closely associated with King Oba, dates back to the 14th century. The many bronze alloy heads and statues created by the artists of Benin were reserved for the exclusive use of the inhabitants of the royal palace and placed on altars consecrated by each new Oba. This late, figurative sculpture, reminiscent of those made on the death of sovereigns, also reproduces the "masks-belt pendants" in ivory. The fine-featured face is adorned with elements reproducing the coral bead necklaces and ornaments of the Obas of Benin. This would be Queen Benin named Iyoba Idia.
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 refused to conform to this practice ...

This exceptional African Dogon mask, surmounted by snake motifs, was collected in the 1950s by a great lover of African art, Mr. Arnaud, accompanying Alain Bilot, a renowned collector of Dogon art during study stays in Mali. . The features in high relief, contrasting with the gaze with oblique eyelids, pointing under a prominent forehead, lend a rare force to this Dogon mask. Four snakes rise, creating a striking undulating movement. Brown patina, matte. Abrasions of use and encrusted deposits of ritual unctions, cracks. Height on base: 67 cm. The Dogon are a people renowned for their culture, their myths and legends. Their population is estimated at around 300,000 souls living in the southwest of the Niger bend in the Mopti region of Mali. The Dogon blacksmiths form an endogamous caste ...

Exceptional mask of character representing a monkey, and whose power is expressed through features and volumes skillfully rendered. Marks of use, velvety patina, small accidents and abrasions. Residues of red pigments.
Only two types of Hemba masks have been identified: that of an anthropomorphic type with regular features, whose pointed chin is reminiscent of statuary, and those depicting monkeys,the soko mutu , and whose functions remain little known, but which probably belonged, according to J.Kerchache, to the secret societies bugabo and bambudye . The smallest specimens ( about twenty centimeters) would have been carried in the hand during rites intended for the protection of the home and fertility. In addition to the janiform statuettes kabeja , the statues of male ...

Rare work, strange object of curiosity offering two heads on a hollowed bust around a miniature subject. This African statue Nkisi, nkishi (pl. mankishi) of the Songye is pierced with numerous nails. Different metals adorn the faces reminiscent of kifwebe masks. Thick black patina, locally grainy.
The Nkisi plays the role of mediator between god and men, responsible, among the Songye, 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. Their history is inseparable from that of the Luba, to whom they are ...

This sculpted figure depicts a naked woman, her hair done according to Mangbetu and Zande custom, braided hair gathered in a bun. Among the Mangbetu, this hairstyle enhanced the elongation of the skull, which compression of the head from an early age gradually deformed.
Orange-brown patina, abrasions and losses.
The ancients call beli the anthropomorphic figures embodying ancestors, stored out of sight, and comparable to those belonging to their secret society nebeli. The Mangebetu kingdom in northern Congo produced architectural works that impressed European visitors in the 19th century. Their furniture, weapons, ornaments and statuary were imbued with a rare aesthetic quality. The ethnologist G.A. Schweinfurth in 1870 described its symmetry and refinement, while at the ...

Ex-collection of Belgian African art.
The African masks of the Yombe, naturalists, were used by the diviner nganga diphoba and by members of secret societies.
This type of mask, of which there are different variants, would be called Khimba, according to Marc Léo Félix. Abraded semi-matte patina, small accidents and minor desiccation cracks.
Height on base: 45 cm.
A clan of the Kongo group, the Yombe are established on the west coast of Africa, in the south-west of the Republic of Congo and in Angola. Their statuary includes remarkable maternities. The Vili , the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembe, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo formed the Kôngo group, led by King ntotela . Their kingdom reached its peak in the 16th century with the trade in ivory, ...

Among the Nyangatom or "yellow guns" and the Toposa of the Omo Valley, women wore this type of triangle "hide-sex" apron called akwalac . Depending on the case, this garment-adornment which was adapted to the morphology of each one is made of animal skin and pearls of ostrich egg shells such as the model presented, the akwala na akirim, reserved for married women and paid for with small livestock. Some models feature metal beads, others in glass or plastic, and sometimes simultaneously.
Ref. : " Omo Peoples and Design" G. Verswijver, H.Silvester. Ed. de la Martinière, p. 47.

Sculpted following the death of a notable in order to prolong his authority, placed in the men's meeting room, the figure of the ekpu ancestor was the subject of regular sacrifices in the hope of protecting the community. The Oron are established in the Cross River region, alongside the Ibibio. The recurring elements of the oron sculptures are a beard, a hat or a circular headdress, dignitary attributes. The narrow bust gradually widens towards a swollen, cylindrical abdomen, stocky legs. Desication cracks, erosions.

Door carved with numerous motifs referring to the Senufo pantheon. The Kpélié mask of the Poro society occupies a central place. The door is equipped with an antropomorphic lock. Matt patina, residual inlays of kaolin. Indigenous restorations.
Representations of hybrid beings, the African masks zoomorphic masks of the Senufo are worn by members of the Poro society, the institution that controls political and economic life. Their function is to honor elders or appear at funerals, hence their name, poniugo, "funeral head." Living in a reserved neighborhood, the senufo sculptor, whose training lasted seven years,began by making everyday objects, and then, gradually, sported sculptures of increasing size. Initiatory rituals completed his training.

Scaled down version for this African mask Makonde embodying an ancestral spirit. The ancestors would return masked to mark their satisfaction following initiation. A labret distorts the upper lip. The incised patterns refer to the traditional tattoos and scarifications of the Makonde.
Satin patina.
The Makonde of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania wore mask-helmets called lipiko during initiation ceremonies for young men. The Makonde worship an ancestor , which explains the abundance of naturalistic female statuary. In addition to the facial masks worn during mapiko dances and ngoma ceremonies that instruct youth about the requirements of marriage and family life. the Makonde also produce body masks featuring the female bust. (Art and Life in Africa, C.D. Roy)

Elephant mask with large concave ears, which was worn horizontally. The dancers of the Kuosi society, to which the nobles and warriors belonged, mimicked the charge of the animal during the choreography. The surface is plated with metal sheets decorated with floral motifs.
The Babanki live in the north of the region called Cameroonian Grasslands . Their neighbors are the Kom, Wum and Bali. Under the influence of Fulani invaders, many of them converted to Islam. They revere the ancestors who are said to be embodied in the skulls held by the elders of each lineage. The Grasslands brotherhoods use zoomorphic masks, some decorated with beads, called buffalo masks, and beaded hoods also representing the elephant. The elders are said to have the power to transform themselves ...

African mask old bakrogui, Simogui, or Angbaï, attached to the ancestors. The angular reliefs of the face, the metal-rimmed pupils overhanging the circular forehead, an imposing hooked nose, combine here in a remarkable physiognomy of severe appearance. Only members of the Poro were allowed to contemplate the bakrogui mask.
Libatory remains mixed with feathers, at the top.
The Toma of Guinea, called Loma in Liberia, live in the forest, at high altitudes. They are renowned for their landaï mask-boards intended to animate the initiation rites of the poro association which structures their society, and which represent the spirits of the bush. As soon as the landaï mask appeared, the initiates went to the forest to stay there for a month during which they would be taught. At the ...

Striking realism for this African Makonde mask. The ancestors would return masked in order to mark their satisfaction following the initiation. Some of these masks have wax tattoos, here they are engraved on the surface. Matte gray patina. Abrasions and desiccation cracks.
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. In addition to 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 bust.

This adornment was fixed around the horns of the "favorite ox" belonging to each young boy within the groups established on the borders of Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. Cattle, an indicator of status, constitute a crucial asset for these pastoral peoples living on the arid plains of the Omo. Young people grow up alongside their assigned animal, a powerful bond developing between them. The owner will shape the horns of his ox, possibly share his ration of milk or blood, and compose the songs to surround the castration of the bull.
Height on base: 36 cm.
Ref. : "Omo Peoples and Design" (p.15) G. Verswijver, H. Silvester, ed. de la Martiniere, Africa Tervuren.