Tribal Art

Figure of an ancestor represented naked, kneeling on a circular flat surface. The head offers a chiseled crest, the face has slanted eyes accentuating the arrow shape of the nose. Pursed lips give a determined and concentrated physiognomy. Long, slender limbs are adorned with bracelets, the body marked with fine scarified motifs, the buttocks rest on very long feet.
Interesting speckled red ochre, blackish patina and light pigments.
Desication 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. Alongside Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: ...

A symbol of power, this African statue features a founding ancestor and mythical hero, Chibinda Ilunga, wearing the chipangula, intended for chiefs. He holds a ritual horn and a staff. The chiefs had a major function in the propitiation rites intended for hunting and the fertility of women. Applications of castor oil and coloring plant decoctions were generally administered to the surface.
Erosions.

Peacefully settled in eastern Angola until the 16th century, the Chokwé were then subject to the Lunda empire from which they inherited a new hierarchical system and the sacredness of power. Three centuries later, they ended up seizing the capital of the Lunda weakened by internal conflicts, thus contributing to the dismantling of the kingdom. The Chokwé did not have ...

The African statues associated with the Byeri cult embody the ancestor of the clan acting as "guardians" of reliquaries.
Figured seated, wrists and shoulders encircled by wicker vines crossed behind the back , the subject offers classically prominent musculature. A fragment of a ritual mirror lines the bottom of a cup placed on the bust. Hollowed pupils indicate a trance state.
Heterogeneous oiled patina, abrasions, restoration and cracks from use.

Among the Fang of Cameroon and Gabon, each family has a "Byeri", or reliquary box, in which the bones of the ancestors are kept. These boxes were guarded by the oldest man in the village, the “esa”. The reliquary boxes were topped with a statue or head which acted as guardian of the “byeri” boxes. These were kept in ...

This sculpture of African art Dogon, with a surreal aspect, carved in wood, is made up of an assembly of heads, separating into branches. One of the elements is a long neck bearing an ancestor's face. Golden beige grainy patina. Desication cracks.

These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on ancestor altars and take part in various rituals, including those during sowing and harvesting periods. Alongside Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lébé, relating to fertility, under the spiritual authority of the Hogon, the Wagem, ancestor worship under the authority of the patriarch, the Binou invoking the spirit world and led by the priest of the Binou, and the society of masks concerning the funeral.
According to ...

br>Close systems of Sudanese regions in tribal art.
The door is made of four planks. Schematized anthropomorphic figures refer to the ancestors and are also associated with traditional sculptures linked to fertility. Beautiful locally abraded matte patina.
Upper Volta, Burkina Faso since independence, is made up of the descendants of the invaders, horsemen who came from Ghana in the 15th century, named Nakomse, and the Tengabibisi, descendants natives. Political power is in the hands of the Nakomsé, who assert their power through statues, while the priests and religious leaders are from the Tengabisi, who use masks during their ceremonies. Animists, the Mossi worship a creator god named Wendé. Each individual would have a soul, sigha, linked to a totemic animal.

Ex-French African artcollection.
Within the wide diversity of nkisi sculptures to which multiple virtues were attributed, this African maternity in figurative style, image of the protective ancestor of the clan, offers an abundance of very finely chiseled details. This type of female statue was accompanied by its male counterpart named Mabyaala.
Burgundy brown satin patina. Minor erosions and desiccation cracks.
The Vili, the Lâri, the Sûndi, the Woyo, the Bembé, the Bwende, the Yombé and the Kôngo formed the Kôngo group, led by king ntotela . With the same beliefs and traditions, they produced statuary with codified gestures in relation to their vision of the world.
Ref. : "Africa, the art of a continent" ed. Prestel (p.247)

Ex-collection of French African art.
Symbolizing according to some authors the naja snake, this wooden sculpture decorated with strips and metal plates is characteristic of the Mahongwe of the extreme northeast of Gabon, on the Congo border. Baskets containing the relics of illustrious ancestors, generally topped by two reliquaries, were kept in village temples. One of them embodied the founder of the lineage, and the second his descendants.
The cult of ancestors, the bwete (North Kota) was at the heart of the social and religious life of the Kota and presents many analogies with that of the i>Fang. In the exclusive presence of initiates, the major decisions of the clan were taken during ceremonies during which reliquaries were taken out and used. In order to reactivate ...

Ex private French collection of African art. Typical representation of a maternity according to the canons of art Tikar. Sitting on a royal stool, she holds two children on her lap. High-lined, she is richly adorned with jewels, necklace and bracelets around her neck and wrists. The headdress is very elaborate and many ritual scarifications cover her belly. The seat of the stool is highly worked and based on a five-person caryatid base. The tribes that live in the Grasslands, in northwestern Cameroon, are part of the Tikar peoples, divided into several independent kingdoms in the Bafut kingdom. The structure of the kingdom consists of a large chiefdom subdivided into quarters: residences of queens, children and notables. The notables constitute the hierarchy of the chieftaincy.

Rarely presented in such a posture, the mbole sculpture here depicts a seated subject, hands clasped in prayer. Oiled black patina, erosions and drying cracks, restorations (reptile skin).
The province of Lualaba had several close ethnic groups with similar associations. The Mbole are known for their statues embodying, according to D. Biebuck, hanged men, called ofika. The lilwa, an association with dogmatic initiation rites, had the custom of judging and condemning to hanging those guilty of infractions of the imposed rules. These offenses ranged from murder to adultery to breaking the secret surrounding the lilwa. Dishonored, the bodies of the condemned received no funeral and were buried in the forest. It was during the end of initiation ceremonies, presided over by a notable ...

In the Arctic regions of North America called “Inuit Nunangat” live the Inuit people related to the Yupitt, Yupiks, of Alaska and Siberia. The Yupik and Esquimo, Eskimo, make, despite respecting certain traditional conventions, ceremonial masks of very varied size and appearance. For each occasion, following a dream, the shaman will indicate to the sculptor the function and shape of the mask required and which he will wear himself. The masks are associated with the “yua” souls of different animals or fish, which should be honored through rituals. This unique Yupik-type mask offers a grimacing face, removable elements resembling a hand and a "fin" are installed on the surface, also decorated with an animal fur hairstyle, feathers and a wicker hoop. . Polychrome, matte pigments.

African statue altar part of a cult supposed to promote fertility and protect descendants, very widespread not only among the animist Idoma, but also among the Igala and the Yoruba of the South. These statues which benefited from offerings were kept in sanctuaries. Matte crusty patina. Erosions.
The Idoma live at the confluence of the Benué and the Niger. Numbering 500,000, they are farmers and traders. There are Igbo, Cross River and Igala influences in their art and customs and it is often difficult to distinguish them from their neighbors. Royal lineage members of their oglinye society, glorifying courage, use masks and crests during funerals and festivities. They also produced fertility statues with whitened faces displaying incised teeth. Janiform crests generally appear at ...

Miniature in silver and bronze alloy depicting a rider on his mount, which represents an exceptional attribute of prestige in the arid regions of the Sahel. This talisman constitutes, for the Sao, a protection against madness. The rider symbolizes the genius who possesses the madman, the horse representing the victim.
Between the 12th and 14th centuries, the Sao, ancestors of the Kotoko, were established on hills in the border regions of Chad, northern Cameroon and Nigeria, in order to repel invaders. Subjected to successive attacks from their neighbors in Kanem and then to hordes from the East, the Sao had to abandon their lands to settle in the North-West of Cameroon where they mixed with the natives, thus giving birth to the Kotokos. The Kotoko still attribute today to the ...

In African art, the sowei constitute, through Mende culture, the feminine ideal. This "bell" shaped mask called bundu, among the most important among the Mendé, features a face encased in rings, symbolizing an abundance of flesh associated with prosperity.
Painted black or tinted using a leaf wash, the mask was then rubbed with palm oil. Semi-matte patina, abrasions from use, gaps.
The Mende, Vaï and Gola cultures, of Sierra Leone, Liberia and the west coast of Guinea, are known in African art for the helmet masks and more particularly those of the female initiation society Sandé< /i> which prepares young girls for marriage. The male society is the Poro society. Relatively rare in sub-Saharan Africa, these masks are made by men and worn by women.
To close the rituals, ...

Very expressive sculpture of a small, stocky character, represented with hands united under the chin, with characteristics also kwésé, according to the hatching of the face. Orifices have been pierced on either side of the head for possible suspension, sex for ritual purposes. Grainy velvety patina, partially abraded, desication cracks.
The Kwésé are established among other tribes such as the Mbala and the Hungaan, along the banks of the Kwango River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their sculpture is inspired by that of their neighbors and sometimes made by the Mbalas at the request of the Kwese.
The headdress shares great similarities with the mukote headdress which, among the Western Pende with whom the Mbala shared mukanda circumcision rituals, became a symbol of ...

Stick surmounted by a Fang Mabea type miniature, embodying the ancestor of the clan, guardian of the reliquary boxes of the Byeri cult. Minor erosions.
Height on base: 645 cm.
The Fang ethnic group, established in a region extending from Yaoundé in Cameroon to Ogooué in Gabon, has strongly influenced the Mabea of southern Cameroon who have absorbed a large part of their rites such as so and the ngil. The reliquary statues, sculpted by the Mabea, are however generally larger than those of the Fang and adorned with various finery. The hairstyle is also very distinct, divided into shells, unlike the Fang crest. Among the Fang of Cameroon and Gabon, each family has a “Byeri”, or reliquary box, in which the bones of the ancestors are kept. The reliquary boxes were topped with a ...

The Galoa (or Galwa) live downstream from Lambaréné on the Ogooué River, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. They are called "people of the lake". They produced masks called Okouyi, Okukwé, used by initiatory societies to reveal witchcraft and their authors through divination. Several neighboring ethnic groups, including the Adouma and the Kota, use flat areas of contrasting colors in Gabon, including kaolin supposed to have apotropaic properties.
The groups of Gabon practice the worship of the bwiti, worship of the ancestors, and their relics are surmounted by a sculpture acting as a watchman. The Tsogho also produced a variety of masks comparable to those of their neighbors in the Ogooué basin. Height on base: 93 cm (reduction on request) Velvety matte patina. Abrasions from use.

The Urhobos, northwest of the Niger Delta River, form the main ethnic group in Delta State among the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They speak Urhobo, a language of the Niger-Congo group. Together with the closely related Isoko, they are collectively known as Sobo. Their large sculptures representing the spirits of nature, edjo, or founding ancestors of the clan, to whom sacrifices were offered, were grouped together in sanctuaries within the villages. Their masks embody the spirits of water and earth. This specimen would have been borrowed from the Western Ijo. This type of mask, which was also associated with a young girl (omotokpokpo), was used during the Niger floods.
Cracks and abrasions.
Lit. : ...

Ex-collection of French African tribal art.
This African sculpture called "ugonachonma" depicts a young nubile woman. It included staging in village squares during dry season entertainment ceremonies. These figures are specific to village age groups in the north central Igbo region, around Onitsha and Awka. Women have specific criteria of Igbo beauty, including uli tattoos. Eroded matte patina, discreet polychrome highlights, drying cracks and gaps.
br>The Igbo worship a considerable number of deities known as alusi, or agbara, considered to be the descendants of Chuku, or Chukwu, and as such constitute intermediaries to whom sacrifices such as kola nuts, money, kaolin, are granted in order to enjoy their favors. These sculptures produced in several regions range from around ...

Slender face flanked by huge rectangular earrings, inviting the gaze towards the shoulders draping the columnar bust like a shawl. The asymmetry of long bent arms offers the illusion of dynamics. The skirted hips overhang the parallel planes of notched legs. Erosions and cracks. Glossy black patina.
The statuary emanating from the northwestern region of the middle Benoué, from the Kona Jukun, to the Mumuye and up to the Wurkun populations is distinguished by a relative absence of ornamentation and a refined stylization. The 100,000 Adamawa language speakers form a group called Mumuye and are grouped into villages, dola, divided into two groups: those of fire (tjokwa) relating to blood and the color red, guardians of the Vabong cult, from among whom are elected the heads,and ...

In African art, a panel of objects, the regalia, made up of headdresses, seats, weapons, crowns, scepters, cups and drinking horns, belong to the chiefs. They magnify and reinforce their authority. An emblem of power and prestige, this fly swatter is sculpted with a figure of a singiti ancestor.
Satin brown patina.
The Hemba, established in the south-east of Zaire, on the right bank of the Lualaba, have long been subject to the neighboring Luba empire which had a certain influence on their culture. The cult of ancestors, whose effigies have long been attributed to the Luba, is central in Hemba society. The singiti statues were preserved by the fumu mwalo and honored during ceremonies during which sacrifices were offered to them. Alongside the authority of hereditary ...

Among the elements of African furniture for daily use, a mossi stool from the Ivory Coast, whose circular seat is supported by five diamond-shaped legs. This type of stool for individual use, often carved in shea wood, marked the social rank of its owner and was not suitable in any way. Patina of use, desication cracks, erosions.
The Mossi are a people originating from Burkina Faso as well as the bordering regions of surrounding countries. More than five million people consider themselves Mossi, membership in this ethnic community being based on the practice of moré and on the practice of a certain number of traditions. In the 15th and 16th centuries, they constituted great kingdoms, the two main ones of which (Yatenga and Ouagadougou) remained independent until European ...