Tribal Art

French African tribal art collection.
Small Dogon altar figure, with a flat face extending to the center of the bust. A posture of devotion for this figure of ancestor coated with a black crusty patina resulting from periodic ritual unctions.
Carved for the most part on commission by a family, Dogon statues can also be the object of worship by the entire community when they commemorate, for example, the founding of the village. However, little is known about their functions. Alongside Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lebe, 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 Binou priest; and the mask society ...

This African sculpture naturalistic, allowing according to the Yoruba communication with the afterlife, features as a maternal figure one of the many female goddesses, the earth goddess Onilé ("owner of the House"), guarantor of longevity, peace, and resources, and linked to the powerful Ogboni society among the Yoruba Egba and Ijebu. It could also symbolize Orunmila , goddess of divination.
Intended to be enthroned on an altar, she was worshipped by members of the powerful Ogboni, or Osugbo, society in charge of justice.
Satin polychrome patina, abrasions.
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 following the demise of the Ife ...

African art and funerary rites
A head with inlaid pupils, offering a heart-shaped face under a wide forehead, a rectangular mouth projecting forward, and a helmet-like headdress are some of the characteristics of the Ntumu style. This type of sculpture fulfilled the same function as the byeri statuettes. Dark oiled patina, eroded wood.
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 kept by the oldest man in the village, the "esa". The reliquary boxes were surmounted by a statue or a head that acted as the guardian of the "byeri" boxes. These were kept in a dark corner of the box, and were meant to divert evil influences to someone else. They were also used during the ...

These protective mythical figures probably evoke the primordial couple or mythical twins, associated with the Nommos, at the origin of Dogon creation. Sitting on a semicircular base, they present a narrow morphology contrasting with a shell-like chest. The heads show a Bambara influence. Thick granular patina, satin surface. Ochre residue, powdery, on the base. Carved for the most part on commission by a family, Dogon statues can also be the object of worship by the entire community when they commemorate, for example, the founding of the village. However, little is known about their functions. In parallel with Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lebe, relating to fertility, under the spiritual authority of the Hogon, the Wagem, ancestor ...

Collection of African Tribal Art Claude Auge Dogon statuette anchored in a circular block. The arms are missing, isolating narrow shoulders. A hand remains on the thin bust marked with irregular reliefs. A crest underlines the head with erased features, a labret pointing discreetly at the level of the chin. A notch draws a female sex. In African art, this type of sculpture associated with an individual cult adorned the Dogon family altar. Grainy black patina. Abrasions.

Carved for the most part on order placed by a family, the Dogon statues can also be the object of worship on the part of the whole community. However, their functions remain little known. Alongside Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lébé, relating to fertility, under the ...

Wearing braids gathered in voluminous double crests typical of the Kwere, the sculpture depicts a woman of athletic constitution, pregnant, perched on high legs. The pupils are encrusted with pearls.
The Zaramo and the tribes that surround them, such as the Kwéré and the Doé, have designed dolls and more rarely anthropomorphic figures generally associated with fertility, but to which other virtues would be attributed. Their first 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 named Mwana Hiti is taken up at the top ...

Ancestor figure represented naked, carried by oversized feet. The traced geometric patterns evoke the body paintings and tribal scarifications of the Mangbetu, analogous to those of the Asua pygmies with whom the tribe maintained relations. These varied according to the circumstances. The fan hairstyle was worn by the Mangbetu: from an early age, children suffered compression of the cranium by means of raffia ties. Later the Mangbetu would "knit" their hair on wicker strands and apply a headband to the forehead in order to extract the hair and produce that particular headdress which accentuates the elongation of the head. The ancients call these figures of ancestors stored out of sight and comparable to those belonging to their secret society nebeli beli. Dark satin patina. ...

Sculpted figure Nkisi, nkishi (pl. mankishi ) whose face with the features of the kifwebe mask is underlined with metal sheets. The statue is equipped with a bishimba magic charge inserted into the cavity of the skull. Various addendums, metal, jerks, etc. were additionally supposed to enhance the power of the fetish.
Semi-matte dark patina. Desication cracks.

These protective fetishes for homes are among the most popular in Africa. The Nkisi plays the role of mediator between gods and men. The large specimens 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. Their society is organized in a patriarchal ...

The tribal African statues of the Dogon can be the object of worship on behalf of the whole community when they commemorate, for example, the foundation of the village. These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on ancestor altars and participate in various rituals including those of the periods of seeds and harvests. This is a statuette of personal worship, with a dense, oily and slightly abraded patina, under which appears a light wood.
The figures with raised arms would symbolize a prayer to Amma to grant the rain necessary for all life. According to the sources, it would also be a gesture of contrition following the violation of a law that resulted in a drought. Sacrificial patina. The south of the plateau overlooking the Bandiagara ...

Togolese version of the Ibedji fetish statuettes of the Yoruba of Nigeria, the doll carved in light bleached wood has abundant ornaments of colored pearls. Desication cracks, abrasions.
The Ewe regard the birth of twins called Venavi (or Venovi) as a happy omen. The latter must be treated identically and fairly. Both will be fed and washed at the same time and will wear the same clothes until puberty. If one of the two twins dies, the parents obtain a statuette intended to replace the deceased child and contact a specialist in order to activate its magical virtues.
She will be of the same sex as the child she represents and replaces but projects herself into the future that the child will not have known by displaying adult features.
Source: "Isn't she a doll?" E.L ...

Among the Baga, a spiritual entity is called Somtup, a male spirit at the head of the men's initiatory society. The women's association is under the direction of a-Bol, Somtup's wife. In relation to this spirit to which sacrifices were periodically offered, this female figure embodies the concept of local beauty, accentuating the braided hairstyle, the facial and body scarifications, bracelets and belt, roundness of the volumes. Glossy patina, losses and abrasions.
Mixed with the Nalu and the Landuman, the Baga live along the coasts of Guinea-Bissau in areas of swamps flooded six months a year. These Baga groups settled on the coast and living from rice growing are made up of seven sub-groups. After the abandonment of the rites following Islamization, colonization, or conversions ...

Collection primitive art belgian
Colorful witnesses to the traditions of the Hopi Indian peoples of Arizona, the carved Katsinam (sing. Kachina) objects are expressed during traditional dances accompanying the annual festivals in favor of the rain. Traditional Kachina dolls are, for the Amerindian Pueblo group (Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village, Acoma Pueblo and Laguna Pueblo), educational tools offered to children at the end of ritual celebrations. These statuettes, embodying a great diversity of spirits, represent the katchina dancers whose colors are associated with the cardinal points. They are grouped here in a team of five statuettes carved in soft wood. The patina is matte and velvety, abrasions.

Anthropomorphic figure associated with ancestor worship, carved in dense wood. Adorned with copper sheets offering a variety of fine decorative motifs evoking body marks and tribal paintings, it also sports a loincloth made of bells. The flat face has metal-rimmed hollow pupils and small parallel teeth. The posture would be one of those accompanying ceremonial dances.
Desication cracks, kaolin residues, erosions.
The Mbete, Ambete, form a tribe of Gabon, on the border of the Middle Congo, close to the Obamba and the Pounou, whose history has been marked by a long-term conflict against the Teke. They do not have a centralized political organization, practice ancestor worship without reliquary boxes, their statues frequently comprising a cavity fitted out for this purpose.

Protective sculpture of lineage or family, whose glazed abdomen conceals a magical charge. The glazed gaze refers to mediumistic abilities. Figure sometimes illustrating a proverb, the character is represented here perched on zoomorphic figures emblematic of specific clans. Desication cracks, crusty light gray patina.
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 the same beliefs and traditions, they produced a statuary endowed with a codified gesture in relation to their vision of the world. The nganga sorcerers, both healers, were in charge of religious activities and ...

Ex-collection of French African art. The Bamana, like the Dogon, magnify the ancestors through representations of horsemen on horseback. These last ones constitute major characters of the theater of puppets organized by the associations of young people.
These works also evoke the horse races between young Bamana. The ears and hands of this naked rider, riding without stirrups, have been symbolically accentuated.
Beautiful warm brown patina, velvety, residual ochre inlays. Misses.
The Bambara of central and southern Mali belong to the large Mande group, like the Soninke and Malinke. Groups of Bambara artisans nyamakala , more specifically the blacksmiths named numu , are in charge of carving ritual objects, endowed with the nyama , occult energy. Using fire ...

A rich artistic tradition has manifested itself among the Senoufo through various African masks, anthropomorphic sculptures, everyday objects and statuettes embodying spirits of nature or divination. The latter benefited from sacrificial libations based on palm oil. During the rites of the Poro society, the leaders of the initiates also used bird statues, some of them large. Sober copy depicting a bird with an arched morphology, whose long beak rests on a curved abdomen. Nice golden beige patina. Excellent condition.
The Senoufo, the name given to them by French settlers, are mainly composed of farmers who have dispersed between Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. Councils of elders, headed by an elected chief, administer Senufo villages. Governed by matrilineal traditions, they ...

Game of volumes typical of African statues Mumuye, resulting here in an arched hairstyle of the helmet type, whose curvature is repeated, wrapping the shoulders and forming the circular block of the hips. The hands extending the flat arms develop in a fan at mid-height, surmounting the triangular legs, spread apart. The eyes are inlaid with bone or horn. Mottled matte patina, abrasions, cracks and erosions.

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 clean styling. 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) ...

Ex-Belgian African art collection.
The wind, salt and sand have helped to criss-cross this figure of male ancestor, giving the wood this characteristic desication, resulting in an exceptional dullness of the clear patina. Whitish deposits are also thought to be due to the abrasive action of salt. A top of the hat caps the figure with arms attached to the right bust, legs semi-flexed. The most famous plastic achievements of the Malagasy consist of a tribal statuary linked to funeral rites. While the Mahafaly statues were an integral part of pillars aloalo , fragments of panels above the heads testifying, the figures of Sakalava ancestors, in round-bump, represent the deceased and his companion of the opposite sex. The north-east of the tomb, sacred position associated with the ...

Among the traditional African sculptures associated with the Bukota, this female figure, partially cut into flats, intervened during the initiation rites. In addition, combined with its male equivalent Ntanda, it guaranteed conflict resolution. Velvet matte patina, red and white ochre highlights. Crack on the base.
The Metoko and the Lengola, whose ritual sculptures are very close, are peoples of the primary forest dedicated to the worship of a single God, a monotheism rare in Africa. Their three-grade society, the Bukota, structured daily life and welcomed both men and women. It represents the equivalent of the association Bwami of the Lega. The sculptures played a role in the initiation ceremonies, and were then placed on the tomb of high-ranking initiates. Kakungu in particular ...

This sculpture depicting a Bamoun horseman controlling a rearing horse would represent King N'Doya in his victory over the Fulani in the 19th century. Originally armed with a sword of which only the scabbard remains, he also wielded a sabre. Leather sheaths the shapes of the character and his mount. The king is dressed in a textile habit, the Hausa having introduced clothing transformations among the Bamoun, and his feet are slipped into wicker stirrups. Cracks and abrasions.
The Bamun live in a region that is both full of wooded landforms but also of savannas. This vast territory called Grassland located in the southwest of Cameroon is also the seat of other close ethnic groups such as the Bamiléké and the Tikar. Bamoun art is illustrated by sculptures in bas-reliefs, depicting ...

Prestigious naturalist sculpture, represented naked, one hand holding a breast. These statues were attached to the top of the chief huts, watching over the village. Red ocher matte patina. Abrasions and cracks.
Ref. : "Pende" Strother, ed.5Continents (p.33) 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 ...