South African Zulu Prestige horn knobkerrie or Sceptre Club from the early to mid 19th Century

Tribe : Zulu / Nguni
Country: South Africa
Length = 56,5 cm
Period: 19th century (1820-1870) 
Perfect condition

A prestigious horn sceptre club which most lickely belonged to a high ranking nobleman or even a Zulu king. The head of the club has carvings or decorations which is extremely rare. This museum piece is in excellent condition.

A Ga'anda / Ganda spririt terracotta jar. Eastern Gongola Valley, Nigeria. 19th century 

Tribe : Ga'anda / Ganda.

Country : Nigeria

Period : 19th century

Length : 47 cm high

Excellent condition

This jar of the mbirhlen'nda type from the Ga'anda tribe was a spritual item and used as a funerary vessel.

A very rare museum quality item in excellent condition.

Ngaady a mwaash mask from the Kuba Kingdom DR Congo ca 1880. Extremely rare unusual museum quality mask!

Country of origin : DR Congo

Tribe : Kuba
Length = 40 cm high and 21 cm wide
Very good used  condition

Extremely rare museum quality mask.

This Ngaady a Mwaash mask (c.1880) represents the primordial female of the Kuba people in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Queen Ngokady, a notable Kuba woman, created the mask, highlighting the important cultural and political contributions of women in the Kuba royal court. The aesthetic taste and noble attitude of the Kuba are embodied in the formal attributes of this mask which is a powerful representation of status and beauty. The beadwork that covers the mouth symbolizes the composure and quietness of women. The red in the mask represents suffering and the blood of menses and childbirth, the striated lines extending from her eyes and running down her cheek are tears. The black of the triangles signifies the hearth of the king’s home and the domesticity therein, the white of the mask the mourning of women and the blue, Ngaady a Mwaash’s royal status.  

The Ngaady a Mwaash has two mythical brothers who perform a mock fight to win her affection: the Mwash aMbooy represents the Kuba king, and the Bwoom mask the half-brother/foreigner. The museum is fortunate to have masks of all three in the African Collection. The three masks offer a poignant manifestation of the significance of women and the balance of gender and status in Kuba political systems and Kuba life. 

Old Rare and unusual Statue Of The Tshokwe / Chokwe Tribe - Dr Congo African Art Angola - Early 20th C.

Country of origin : DR Congo/Angola

Tribe : Tshokwe
Length = 29 cm
Perfect condition

This unusual statue with very important scarifications on the belly represents most lickely a female clan ancestor. This museum quality wooden statue has a beautiful patina and is in perfect condition

SOLD

Luba Royal Caryatid Seat/ Tabouret DR Congo Early 20th Century. 

Tribe : Luba Shankadi

Country : DR Congo

Height : 35 cm

Age : early 20th century

Luba leaders trace their ancestry to a dynasty of sacred kings, and Luba royal seats are intended to replicate an original seat of office owned by the progenitor of this divine lineage. Such works associate their owner with the source of his legitimacy.

Despite their functional form, royal stools are never used for sitting but, rather, are sacred insignia preserved within a king's palace. They serve as metaphorical, not literal, seats of kingship. The design of Luba seats of leadership may either be abstract or figurative. Those incorporating female caryatids give expression to the Luba conception of the female body as a spiritual receptacle that supports divine kingship. The aesthetic refinement of the female body through elaborate skin ornamentation and coiffure serves as a metaphor for the civilization and refinement that Luba rulers disseminate within society.

Notice the cascade shaped coiffure which refers to the Luba Shankadi people of DR of Congo.

Old Rare Statue Of The Tshokwe / Chokwe Tribe - Dr Congo African Art Angola - Early 20th C.

Old and exceptional statue Of The Tshokwe / Chokwe / Lwena Tribe - Dr Congo African Art - early 20th century (circa 1910-1930)

Country of origin : DR Congo/Angola

Tribe : Tshokwe
Fetish Tshibinda (Ilunga) or Yanga
Protector of hunters / Territiore Tshikapa Kasai
Batshoko Group /
Tulunda Clan
Length = 39 cm
Perfect condition

Nkishi Statue People Songye / Songe - DR Congo African Art Late 19/early 20th

Tribe : Songye / Songe

Country : DR Congo

Length : 17 cm

Age : late 19th century / early 20th century

A very powerful well carved nkishi statue from the Songye people. Statues like these were used as protection.

Very special carved face and eyes. 

A museum quality statue for a top private collection or museum collection.

Mbuya Type Mask From The Pende Tribe DR Congo 

Tribe : Pende

Country : DR Congo

Length : 34 cm

Age : early 20th century

Wooden mask / Natural fiber headdress / raffia beard
Old Belgian collection
Very good / Perfect condition

Beautiful patina of use and age

Ancient And Exceptional Anthropomorphic Statue / Door Lock Of The Bamana Mali People 19th century

Tribe : Bamana or Bambara

Country : Mali

Length : 48 cm

Age : 19th century

The Bambara  or Bamana are a Mandé ethnic group native to much of West Africa, primarily southern Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal. Today they make up the largest Mandé ethnic group in Mali.

A superb quality 19th century old and exceptional anthropomorphic door lock of the Bamana people
Mali. A beautiful patina of use and age.

Ancient And Exceptional Anthropomorphic Statue From The Pende Tribe Dr Congo Kasaï Region -19th century

Ancient And Exceptional Anthropomorphic Statue From The Pende Tribe
Dr Congo
Kasai Region
Period: late 19th century
Height: 48 cm
Very good condition (feet missing)

The Pende people are an ethnic group in the south-western Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Pende are divided into two cultural groups: the Eastern Pende and the Western Pende who are distinct but consider themselves part of the same ethnic group.

This rare Pende statue from the 19th century represents a clown.

Superb museum quality and extremely rare fine quality Tshokwe /Chokwe wooden cariatide late 19th/early 20 th century DR Congo / Angola

Tribe : Tshokwe / Chokwe

Country DR Congo border with Angola

Height : 30 cm

This most beautiful exclusive stool represents ancestor who is holding her head between her head. The ancestor complains that the descendants neglect their cult and calls for the cult to be honored more regularly.

A true museum piece in superb condition.

Superb museum quality Ngbandi  wooden statue 19th century DR Congo Ubangi region

Tribe : Ngbandi / Mbanza

Country : DR Congo 

Length : 45 cm

This female statue represents an important mythical ancestor among the Ngbandi tribe. The female figure most lickely represents Nabo, the sister of the mythical hero Seto.

A most rare and powerful statue.

Antique superb rare Lobi or Bwa stool Burkina Faso / Mali region

Tribe : Bwa or Lobi

Country : Burkina Faso / Mali

Late 19th / Early 20th century

Length : 35 cm
Perfect condition / exceptional condition

The Bwa live in central Burkina Faso and south-east Mali, between Mali's Bani River and the Mouhoun River (Black Volta) in Burkina Faso. Their total population is approximately 300,000. 

A superb museum quality anthropomorphic stool

Old Tutsi Basket Type Ibeseke/Igiseke - Rwanda

Tribe : Tutsi

Country : Rwanda

Very rare and superb piece of exceptional quality and aesthetics
Tutsi basketry

Late 19th / Early 20th century
Height: 17.5 cm
Perfect condition / exceptional condition

SOLD

Superb museum quality Holo mvunzi wooden statue late 19th/early 20 th century DR Congo / Angola

Tribe : Holo

Country DR Congo border with Angola

Length : 46 cm

Traces of bleu and green pigments

The cult statue mvunzi, represents an ancestor carved with slightly bent legs and her hands joining on the abdomen. The crested hairdo, proportioned body, scarified face with coffee-bean eyes, bent legs and blue polychrome characterizes their Holo’s Art Style. The Holo are a small Matriarchal Tribe living in Kwango Area on the DRC-Angola border (population of +/- 6000 in DRC). Holo sculpture is very varied due to the influences of their culturally dominant neighbors: Suku, Yaka, Lunda,Tshokwe and others.

Beautiful and rare type kifwebe mask from the Songye / Luba Democratic Republic Congo

Tribe : Luba/Songye

Country : DR Congo

Height : 43 cm / Width : 28 cm

Early20th century

They were used in ceremonies of the Kifwebe secret societies where dances of the same name were performed.

This particular mask is quite big and has white, red and black pigmented carved lines running over the mask. 

A rare Senufo female with hornbill face tugubele wooden statue late 19th century

Tribe : Senufo / Senoufo

Country Ivory Coast / Côte d'Ivoire

Age : 19th / early 20th century

A most curious and extremely rare Senufo statue representing a female anthropomorphic statue with a hornbill head. 

Some Senufo heddle pulleys are known with a hornbill head and beak. However statues with a hornbill face a quite rare.

Lovely carving and patina of age and use.

Antique superb Pende mbuya mask DR Congo late 19th century

Tribe : Pende

Country : DR Congo

Age: late 19th / early 20th century

Stylistically, the best known masks come from Katundu: the convex and triangular face is divided by a V-shaped eyebrow line integrated into a heart-shaped depression; the heavy eyelids are drooping; the nose is blunt and sometimes slightly turned up; finally, the mouth, whose corners pull downwards, has cut teeth.

Traditionally, African Mbuya masks such as this one were danced during the mukanda, the initiation that leads young men from puberty to adulthood.

Antique used pipe of the Ngbaka tribe Dr Congo ca 18880/1900

Tribe : Ngbaka / Mbanza / Ngbandi / Ngombe / Banda / Bwaka / Mbaka

Country : DR Congo Ubangi region

Ca 1880/1900

Length = 27 cm

Wood, copper, aluminium, seads and fibres

A well used boka type Ngbaka pipe with human head and metal inlay. A superb high quality piece originated from the Ubangi region.

Exceptional Gbilija Shield from the Zande tribe- DR CONGO

Tribe : Zande

Country : DR Congo
Period: 19th Century / 1900
Length: 113 cm x 52 cm
Museum Quality shield 

Basketwork / vegetal fibre / wood
Very rare shield in excellent condition.

The Azande were organized into chiefdoms that can also be called kingdoms. The Avongara were the nobility and passed it down through their lineage. chiefs had many roles within the chiefdoms such as being military, economic, and political leaders. All the unmarried men were laborers and warriors. This shield belonged to a Zande (Azande) warrior.

SOLD

Antique magnificent Tshokwe / Chokwe mwana pwo mask DR Congo / Angola

Tribe : Tshokwe / Chokwe

Country : DR Congo / Angola

Age : Late 19th century/early 20th century

Mwana pwo mask with filed teath. A popular and frequent occurrence in entertainment masquerades, mwana pwo represents a female ancestor but is always worn by a male dancer. This mask type symbolizes fecundity and the prominent role of women in Chokwe society. Although idealized, its features suggest the individuality of a portrait, raising the possibility that it may be modeled on a particular woman. Mwana pwo often features elements of beauty such as scarification and hairstyles.

Wooden mask with traces of red occre/pigments.

A rare superb Mangbetu wooden shield DR Congo 19th century

People : Mangbetu

Country : DR Congo / Uele region

Wood / Fibers

Dimensions : 119 cm x 66 cm

During the second half of the nineteenth century, when these kingdoms were most powerful, Mangbetu aristocrats surrounded themselves with a wide variety of finely crafted utilitarian objects--boxes, jars, stools, musical instruments, and weapons. 

This rare type of wooden shield was used by Mangbetu warriors.

SOLD

Superb 19th century Kuba pipe DR Congo

People : Kuba

Country : DR Congo, Sankuru River

Late 19th century

Wood / 3 messing nails / metal / copper

This elaborately carved and ornamented tobacco pipe was not merely a functional smoking implement, but was also emblematic of its owner’s status. 

This work was commissioned during the unprecedented economic and artistic growth of the late nineteenth or earlier twentieth century Kuba kingdom. It closely resembles the figurative drinking vessels that Kuba elites—particularly men—used to drink palm wine (maan), a sweetly sour alcoholic beverage. 

Early 20th century Zombo circumcision and initiation mask DR Congo

Tribe : Zombo

Country : DR Congo / Angola

Height : 42 cm

This very rare Zombo mask has been used during inittiation and circumcision rites for boys/young men. 

A superb very high quality African Art piece and rare mask for top private collections / museum collctions.

Very old Songye / Tetela nkishi power statue DR Congo

Tribe : Songye or Tetela

Country : DR Congo

Age : 19th century

Height : 68 cm

A very powerful well carved nkishi statue from the Songye or Tetela people. Statues like these were used as protection and even were used on battle fields. The red occre colour could suggest this statue served even on the battle fields. 

This statue still has all his original attributes.

A museum quality statue for a top private collection or museum collection.

Beautiful and rare type kifwebe mask from the Songye / Luba Democratic Republic Congo

Tribe : Luba/Songye

Country : DR Congo

Height : 37 cm

Ealry 20th century

Of this particular kifwebe mask style ar only about a dozen known to exist in collections. 

They were used in ceremonies of the Kifwebe secret societies where dances of the same name were performed.

Ex Belgian colonial collection collected before 1950

SOLD

Antique Mangbetu tribe female Statue - DR Congo Region Uele - 19th century

Tribe : Mangbetu

Country DR Congo

Age : 19th century

30 cm high

Refined Mangbetu female figurine, Democratic Republic of Congo. Red-brown patina and fine carved scarifications on torso. Late 19th century.

Note : The Mangbetu people of North-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo impressed early travelers with their political institutions and their remarkable skills in the arts, as builders, potters, and sculptors. This figure’s features are meticulously rendered through delicate modeling, incised graphic embellishments on the visage and body. The quality of the carving equals the most refined examples of Mangbetu statuary.

Senufo funeral ritual anthropomorph buruw trumpet or horn Ivory Coast 19th century 

Tribe : Senufo / Senoufo

Country : Ivory Coast / Côte d'Ivoire

Age : 19th century

Height = 90 cm

These type of ritual trumpets were used long time ago during funeral rites among the Senufo. Beautitul extremely rare item with patina of age and use.

19th century superb wooden Ngombe backrest 

People : Ngombe

Country : Democratic Republic of the Congo

Late 19th / early 20th century

Length = 47 cm

The Ngombe—“water people”— inhabit the Itimbiri-Ngiri and the triangle formed by the Congo and the Ubangi. Other fisherfolk of the marshes dwell in the lagoons and the flooded forests of the region where the confluence of the Congo and the Alima, Likouala, and Sangha occurs.

A 19th century Senufo helmet mask of the kponyugu type

Tribe : Senufo / Senoufo

Country : Ivory Coast / Côte d'Ivoire

Type mask : wanyugu / kponyugu / wabele

Length mask : 50 cm and 26 cm high

A superb 19th century museum quality Senufo firespitter wooden helmet mask.

Members of the Poro society, a “secret men’s society,” wear it during the funeral ceremonies of their deceased members to honor them as well as well as ward off evil spirits. 

The appearance of a Kponyungo mask is a mixture of several animals. According to Goldwater, the mask “can include iconographic details taken from the buffalo, the warthog, the crocodile and the antelope, in its larger parts, plus small representations of a chameleon and a bird, even sometimes a snake”. The Kponyungo in the PLU collection seems to be a possible mixture of antelope with its long curved horns at the top of its head, possibly a hyena or another animal with pointed ears, and a crocodile with its long jaw and mouth full of sharp teeth.  

There are multiple interpretations of what the meaning of the Kponyungo mask’s appearance and purpose is. Some say it is to inspire fear in the viewers of the ceremony, while others say it is to protect the soul of the deceased by scaring away evil spirits and soul eaters. 

Exceptional and very rare Ngiri Lobala Shield

Tribe : Ngiri / Mabo / Lobala / Ngbaka

Country : DR Congo / Ubangi region

19th Century - 1900

Museum Quality

Dimensions shield : Length: 140 cm x 48 cm

This type of shield is found in many african ethnic groups, whether Bantu or not. It is called nguba, guba, wara or gele according to these tribes. It is made up of several layers of braided fibers and an oval piece of wood serves as a handle. This basketry work was traditionally reserved for men, except in the Ngiri and Poto where women could exercise it. The name Nguba comes from the proto-bantu gùbà word which means «shield». The Obambas sometimes used animal skin to make them.

Unique and very rare Songye Nsapo ritual or ceremonial kilonda axe

With 2 complete copper/messing statues.

Tribe : Songye/Nsapo/Songe

Country DR Congo

Before 1940

A monumental kilonda axe with 2 messing figures and a total of 22 iron heads.

The 2 figures have male and female features and look like androgyn small metal statues which makes it even more interesting and an unique collectors item of museum quality.

The wooden grip has lizard skin.

The total length of the axe = 60 cm.