Tribal Art

Among the feasts of dignitaries, this stool with a cephalomorphic motif illustrates the importance given to the prestige of its owner. The protection of ancestors is invoked thanks to the sculpted effigy of Chibinda Ilunga, hunter and mythical hero, founder of the Chokwé ethnic group. The chiefs had a major function in the rites of propitiation intended for the hunting and fertility of women, the objects being decorated with this figure therefore presumably having a protective function. The flared seat rests on a circular base, and the walls are engraved with geometric patterns while a handle is fitted at the back.
Grey black, semi-mate. Cracks.
Paisiblely settled in eastern Angola until the 16th century, the Chokwé were then subjected to the Lunda empire from which they ...

Sculpture evoking a female ancestor whose massive head wears a tiara incised with bars. At the back of the head, the hairstyle is organized in a cruciform element. The body is proportionally compacted, the hands joining the abdomen. Usually made of iroko, these ritual sculptures were venerated by a particular clan and stored in a funerary room in the chief's house. Locally matted patina. Desiccation cracks, missing parts. The Hemba, established in southeastern Zaire on the right bank of the Lualaba, were long subject to the neighboring Luba empire, which had a definite influence on their culture, religion, and art. Ancestor worship, whose effigies have long been attributed to the Luba, is central to hemba society. Genealogy is indeed the guarantor of privileges and land ...

Attached with a wicker clamp, the lower jaw of this mask embodying an ancestor or a high-ranking character, can be articulated, revealing wooden sticks representing a dentition.
Two-tone satin patina. Abrasions.


The Ogoni live along the coast of Nigeria, near the mouth of the Cross-River, south of the Igbo and west of the Ibibio. Their carvings vary from village to village, but are primarily renowned for their jointed jaw masks such as some Ekpo Ibibio masks. Their masks were usually worn at funerals, festivities accompanying planting and harvesting, but also more recently to welcome distinguished guests. Acrobatic demonstrations linked to the karikpo celebration, and accompanied by the kere karikpo drum, were additionally an opportunity to display various ...

An elaborate structure, based on textile-trimmed basketry, has a single circular tray framed by antennae for this northern Yaka mask. The Zombo also used similar masks sculpted by the Yaka. The visor here is broken. Insiders could wear these single-platform masks that appeared in pairs. Very beautiful locally abraded granular polychromy.
As initiation songs accompanied the appearance of the African Yaka mask, which incorporates the category of high-ranking masks thanks to its tiered headdress. Their design aroused the creativity of the sculptors whom the chefs rewarded for their talent. Hierarchical and authoritarian, composed of fearsome warriors, Yaka society was governed by lineage leaders with the right to life and death over their subjects. Hunting and the resulting prestige ...

Carved maternity embodying a thil, named thilbou khè bambi , supposed to protect mother and child.

Glossy brown-black patina.
The populations of the same cultural region, grouped under the name "lobi", form one fifth of the inhabitants of Burkina Faso. Although they are not very numerous in Ghana, they have also settled in the north of the Ivory Coast. In the late 18th century, the Lobi came from northern Ghana and settled among the indigenous Thuna and Puguli, the Dagara, Dian, Gan and 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. The geniuses of the bush, red-haired beings ...

African art and tribal cult vodun the ewe and fon
sking sculpture depicting a woman standing, arms without hands glued to the bust, is draped up to the bust of a colorful cotton wool. The waist and head are coated with indigo crusty pigments and kaolin residues, and clumped plant fibers. An opening at the top of the head introduced the magic charge. Splashed matte patina.
As african fetishes are part of rituals according to the intentions of their owner. The fetishists, following the divination ritual of fa using palm nuts, make them to order to offer protective and medicinal virtues but also offer versions ready to use more conventional.


The Ewe, often mistaken for the Minas, are Togo's largest ethnic group. They are also found as minorities in Ghana, Benin, ...

Cephalomorphic headdress with a handle, a figurative chief's insignia marked by Tschokwe influence. The headdress would be of the "guhota sanga" style worn around the 1950s . (p.7 "Pende" Z.S. Strother - ed. 5Continents) Black glossy patina.
The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Eastern have settled on the banks of the Kasai downstream from Tshikapa. The influences of the neighboring ethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba, and Salempasu have been imprinted on their extensive tribal art sculpture. Within this diversity the Mbuya masks, realistic ,produced every ten years, have 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 ...

Lobi sculptures and African art.
Naturalist carved figurine with a protective purpose, polished by use.
These statuettes were placed on the altar after a ritual to be the receptacle of a bush spirit, the Thil, and thus become an active being, an intermediary fighting against wizards and all other harmful forces. When honored, these spirits would manifest their benevolence in the form of abundant rains, good health, and numerous births; ignored, they would withdraw it and bring devastating epidemics, drought, and suffering.
They are supposed to transmit to the diviners the laws that the followers must follow in order to enjoy their protection.
They are represented by wooden or copper sculptures called Bateba (large or small, figurative or abstract, they adopt ...

Belgian African art collection.
Effigy of figurative ancestor seated, hands resting on knees. In African tribal art, this type of sculpture associated with individual worship adorned the Dogon family altar. Thick ritual crusty patina.

Carved for the most part on commission by a family, Dogon statues can also be the object of worship by the entire community. However, their functions remain little known. 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, the cult of the ancestors under the authority of the patriarch, the Binou invoking the world of the spirits and directed by the priest of the Binou, and the society of the masks concerning funerals.

This Lobi statuette "Bateba" was placed on the altar after a ritual to become the receptacle of a bush spirit, the Thil, and thus become an active being, an intermediary who fights against sorcerers and all other evil forces. The small spherical head, slightly tilted to the side, surmounts a narrow bust with drooping shoulders and arms that are placed alongside the body. The figure stands upright on wide feet. Golden brown glossy surface showing the wood grain.
When honored, these spirits manifest their benevolence in the form of abundant rains, good health, numerous births; Ignored, they withdraw it and bring devastating epidemics, drought and suffering.
These spirits transmit to the diviners the laws that the followers must follow to receive their protection.
They ...

Ex-Swiss African art collection.

The voluminous headdresses of the Ikorodo masks in the African art of Nigeria.
This African Igbo mask named Ikorodo in the Nsukka region of southern Nigeria glorifies youth and beauty, with narrow eye slits, a face with sharp white coated features, scarification and tattoos. The headdress is composed of three openworked wings topped with circular protrusions, hence the name "cap" headdress.

Ex Italian tribal art collection.
The traditional arts of Western Indonesia are generally marked by the influence of Islam, Buddhism, and Balinese Hinduism. Thus Sumatra, among the islands of Southeast Asia, has inherited Asian theatrical traditions. It is here through an idealized naturalism that this sculpted head puppet shows the link between the human community and that of the ancestors. The delicacy of the features suggests in this case that it would be a character of high rank, whose peaceful and benevolent physiognomy is veiled by a subtle frown.
By transmitting the perception of beauty, the Batak of North Sumatra excel in the art of sculpture. The puppets and heads si galegale stem from a funerary tradition where the carved object replaces, when necessary, the ...

Baga religious practices and African art.
This shoulder mask, pierced with holes under the breasts to allow the wearer's vision, features an elaborate decoration consisting of rafters and incisions highlighted by inlays of tapestry nails.
Belle patina of use.
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 male spirit whose name is Somtup . Apart from the famous Nimba mask, they have created a powerful mask, hybrid snake, gazelle, chameleon and crocodile, with the aim of communicating with the spirits of the forest. The face of the Baga Nimba mask is characterized by a buzzed nose evoking ...

Ex-collection Belgian African art In the 13th century, the Kongo people, led by their king Ne Kongo, settled in a region at the crossroads of the current DRC, Angola and Gabon Two centuries later later, the Portuguese came into contact with the Kongo and converted their king to Christianity.Although monarchical, the Kongo political system had a democratic aspect because the king was actually placed at the head of the kingdom following an election held by A council of tribal governors, who was also known as ntotela, controlled the appointment of court and provincial officials, and the nganga, who were both healers, were in charge of religious activities and mediation of the God called Nzambi by intermediate of consecrated figures named nkisi A monochrome figure of an ancestor sitting on a ...