Interesting story about this Baga A-Bamp acquisition.
Baga a-bemp (a-bamp).
The image above reflects a fairly decent repair job and a photoshopped stand taken from a similar item on auction at Sotheby’s (04/30/24), see below for the catalog note [Aside – Guinea Bissau may be the primary home of Baga masking and tradition vs The Republic of Guinea, and Elek may refer to the A-Tshol spirit which is a very different concept to A-Bamp]. The length of the bird itself is approx 33″. I’m thinking using an 18″ post and a 3″x10″x10″ purpleheart base. This should round out to a final total length of just under 48″.
I initially tried to win the piece above at a recent North Carolina auction (the only real piece in the bunch) but the online feed went crazy when several bids were outbid by the absentee bids. This caused the bids to freeze and subsequently a fairly low price was declared the winning bid. Fastforward a week and I’m picking up pieces from the auctioneer on location and I spot the now broken a-bemp which had been abandoned and which I was able to purchase at said price. I’m actually thinking of mounting with a purpleheart column and base (10″x10″x4″).
“A-Bemp (the Bird) is a masquerader with a wooden headdress representing a bird (perhaps the hornbill), often in combination with other forms such as smaller birds, a serpent, model houses, and even airplanes. The Susu term for this headdress is Koni (also meaning “Bird”). I have not been able to determine the antiquity of this tradition (it may be a twentieth-century introduction created by a Baga man of Koba by the name of Khanfory Kimson, but there is clearly some antecedent) or any ritual significance beyond its purely entertainment value today.”
Probably the “best” book for referencing Baga art is the following, “Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention” [Lamp, Frederick].
Cimier de masque elek, Baga, République de Guinée | Baga Elek Headdress, Guinea Estimate 80,000 – 120,000 EUR
Catalogue Note
By Pierre Amrouche
This exceptional crest, a mask figure, appeared in rituals linked to rice harvests and during popular festivities. It takes us into the baroque and composite order of Negro-African sculpture, as its decoration is rich and colorful, characteristic of Guinean sculpted art. According to Marie Yvonne Curtis (Baga. 2018) these crests appeared in this form in the 1930s, a period during which traditional Baga sculpture experienced a pictorial revival. They represent a bird, a hornbill, a fishing eagle or a pelican, accompanied by figures and a snake. Here, the curvilinear bird like a land seahorse, carries on its back a snake crawling towards its head, seeming to threaten the small fish held in its beak; two birds and a structure in the form of a portico or colonial house complete the decor, undoubtedly evoking the popular legend linked to the sculpture. Note the very sophisticated decor which adorns the entire body with a field of feathers and symbols. Several examples of these crests are known: many are reproduced by Frederick Lamp in Art of the Baga. That of the Chazal collection is certainly the most balanced example, with the most successful decoration. In addition, its patina of use is remarkable. This object is undoubtedly the work of a master.
This blogpost is a response to a reader who wanted clarification on the role of the head held in the left hand of ikenga statuary. Physically it represents the decapitated head of the victim or enemy. It may in a way symbolically represent the achievement of the goal within a framework based on recognized societal achievement and success. There are ikenga which carry symbols of “elevated rank” which again is in keeping with the philosophy of “goal achievement”. There are also ikenga which carry defensive weapons (eg. a shield) in the left hand which may carry a whole different connotation related to the need for constant preparedness, struggle and survival. What the following excerpts from the article “The Ishan Cult of the Hand [Lorenz, Carol Ann]” will demonstrate is that the philosophy and form of ikenga has spread to mean many things to many peoples including but not limited to Igbo, Igala, Ishan, Isoko, Urhobo, Ijo and Bini.
ISHAN – Southwest Nigeria
Igbo
“It has often been suggested (e.g. Odita 1973; Boston 1977:2; Cole & Aniakor 1984:24) that the Igbo people are the originators of the cult of the hand, which they call ikenga or ikega. Widespread and highly developed, with numerous and varied images (Cole & Aniakor 1984:24), Igbo ikenga is a male cult that stresses the right hand and represents the force of a man’s individual strength, skill, industry, status, and wealth. A pair of horns, connoting masculine strength and aggression, is the most essential element in the carved image. Ikenga sculptures are differentiated in form, size, and degree of elaboration according to the achieved status of the owner. More elaborate examples are usually figural, commonly depicting a warrior carrying weapons or decapitated heads, or else symbols of elevated rank such as staffs of office, tusks, horns, and various ornaments.”
Igala
Idah region : Igala Ikenga
“The Igala version, called okega or okinga, can be found in two very limited geographical areas, in the southwestern lbaji district and in and around Idah (Boston 1977:87), both of which have had extensive contact with Igbo peoples. Some okegas are reminiscent of Igbo ikenga carvings in form and style, but in the Idah area, a unique okega form developed with two or more tiers and multiple figures of both men and women (Boston 1977:87, 89). The latter belong to hereditary lineage leaders and stress the “achievement of a whole clan and of all its members, both men and women” (Boston 1977:94) in contrast to the Igbo emphasis on individual masculine success and competition.”
Bini
“In Bini country, the cult of the hand, called ikegobo or sometimes ikega (Bradbury 1961:133), is known primarily from the court of Benin, where kings and chiefs have venerated the hands as a personal spirit at least since the reign of Ewuare in the fifteenth century (Egharevba 1949:88-89). Like Igbo ikengas, Bini ikegobo sculptures exhibit a number of symbols of aggression: warriors fully armed for battle, weapons, beheaded corpses, severed heads, and predatory animals. There is also, however, an emphasis on status and wealth, including figures swathed in abundant lengths of cloth, with elaborate ornaments and hierarchically arranged attendants. The basic element of the Benin ikegobo is a representation of a “box-stool” (Vogel 1974:8), which serves as both a seat and a treasure container. This stool image, rather than horns as in Igboland, is the most important feature of the Benin ikegobo (Boston, cited in Bradbury 1%1:138, n. 14), which in fact lacks carved horns and instead often has a post, or a hole for an inserted stick, designed to support an actual tusk or horn. Other differences between Benin and Igbo practice, according to Bradbury (1961:133-34), are that Benin ikegobo are intended for the praise of both hands rather than just the right hand, and that a high-ranking or wealthy Benin woman might have an ikegobo of her own, although such instances are not common.”
Urhobo & Isoko
“The Urhobo (Vogel 1974:11) and Isoko (Peek 1981: 143; 1986:47) divide the twin values of the cult- status and wealth on one side, strength and aggression on the other – into two separate cults. The cult of the right hand is called obo, or “hand,” and is associated with a small and simple stool-like image that occasionally has an additional horn on top (Vogel 1974:11). A second cult, called ivri (spelled in a variety of ways), is concerned with determination, aggression, and warfare, but may also have a protective or antiaggression function. The ivri objects depict a massive beast with a huge belly, gaping mouth, and prominent teeth. A human figure representing the owner or his “spirit double” (Peek 1981:42) sits or stands above this creature, often flanked by smaller attendant figures; it has been suggested that this hierarchic arrangement reflects Benin’s stylistic influence (Foss 1975:141).”
Ijo
“An image like the ivri, called efiri or ejiri, may be found among the Western Ijo. They also have an object known as ikenga or amabra, consisting of a stool with a low-relief face on top, or a twohorned figure reminiscent of an Igbo ikenga (Horton, cited in Bradbury 1%1:138, n. 14). The efiri and amabra images seem to be of limited distribution in Ijoland, confined to areas most in contact with Igbo and Southern Edo cultures. As in Igboland, the ivri and efiri are normally restricted to male ownership (Peek 1980:59) and the size and elaboration of these figures depends upon the “power, wealth, and prestige of the owner and his ability to control the image once made” (Foss 1975:134-35). Furthermore, the owner figure often is depicted with attributes of the warrior, including feathered headdresses, weapons, and severed heads.”
Ishan
“Ishan ikegobo may take several different forms, some of them sculptural and others resembling ordinary domestic utensils. All are relatively small, ranging from about 7.5 cm. to perhaps 38 cm. in height, and simply formed and decorated. The commonest type is shaped like a small hand pestle (olumobo), which is similar in form to a stool.”
Olumobo and ‘Horns-on-Stool’ Ikegobo
“Among the Ishan, the cult of the hand is called ikegobo or ikega as in Benin, but also by variant names including ikekobo, or simply obo (“hand”), as among the Southern Edo. It can be found in almost every area of Ishan country, its absence today in the most northerly kingdoms seemingly attributable to the encroachments of Islam. Ishan ikegobo is one of a variety of religious practices designed to protect the individual and his family and to secure his fortune, warding off evil and bringing good luck. It is integrated with other forms of religious expression, most notably the veneration of ancestors. Often the senior male maintains his family’s ikegobo together with the paternal ancestral shrine; it seems that upon its owner’s death the ikegobo is never destroyed but is preserved instead as a relic of the deceased. As in Benin, the Ishan cult of the hand is one of the trio of personal cults including also the veneration of the head (uhomon) and of one’s personal guardian or destiny (ehi). Both Benin and Igala practices may have influenced the fact that in Ishan, the cult of the hand is less rigidly masculine in its orientation. Both the Igala and Ishan cults are also similar in that they downplay the concept of individuality of achievement, instead emphasizing familial or communal welfare.”
Ikegobo (called ikeg’osun) dedicated to Osun.
“Like the Southern Edo obo cult, the Ishan ikegobo stresses success, achievement, good luck, and the accumulation of wealth. One sacrifices to the hands in order to thank them for past successes and to petition them for future benefits. But unlike the Southern Edo version, there is no complementary cult comparable to ivri that focuses on aggression or protection from violence. Those concepts are simply absent from the Ishan ikegobo cult as it is practiced today, and there is no hint that it ever had such connotations. There are no warrior figures, no decapitated victims, no images of weaponry, no devouring beasts.”
“The Ishan cult of the hand is concerned, rather, with seniority. Usually only the elderly may establish a shrine to their hands. Although ownership of many Ishan art forms is the prerogative of high-ranking individuals, the ikegobo cult and its sculptures represent one aspect of the culture that is particularly nonelitist. Anyone of sufficient age may have an ikegobo carved, regardless of social position or profession. Moreover, since all are carved in wood, no distinctions are made on the basis of the type of materials. In fact, the ikegobo of a king may not be any larger or more elaborate than, or otherwise distinguishable from, those of his subjects.”
Songye are mostly known for their Kifwebe masks and their Nkishi power figures. Far less known is the Katatora and it’s role in the Songye divination process.
Songye Katatora : Divination Oracle
This is an interesting piece, very abstract and it closely resembles the Luba kashekesheke in function.
During divination sessions, a diviner and client held this sculpture on either side of the ring opening. This was done to facilitate contact with the ancestors Through this process problems were solved, memories reconstructed, and reasons for histories of misfortune revealed.
Achieving postures which seem realistic would seem fairly easy to do given the flexibility of prefired clay. However this is not typically the case. Djenne statuary is so impressive the sculptors were able to impose impossible positions on statuary without losing sinuous flow and still convey a high level of human depth of feeling and emotion.
Provenance : Minkoff Djenne
In the photo/video link above the right leg seems to lend itself in a very natural overall composition, however on closer inspection it would have to be broken at the ankle to achieve this. Additionally the severity of the open wounds, the goiter and the size of the worms emanating from the body would not be possible. The distended abdomen and the thin arms also point to Kwashiorkor, a condition resulting from inadequate protein intake leading to loss of muscle mass and a large protuberant belly.
Paradoxically one can only marvel at the strength and perseverance displayed and empathize with the subject’s plight.
Excerpt from previous Blog post:
Consider a similar perspective form Bernard de Grunne on Djenne-Jeno,
“As to the meaning of snakes, VanDyke has found at least 200 figurative works with herpetological symbolism (Disease and Serpent Imagery in Figurative Terra Cotta Sculpture from the Inland Niger Delta, of Mali). She suggests that some of these snakes could represent parasitic worms coming out of the mouth, ears, nose and even vagina of some figures. I have also underlined the ancient symbolism attached to snakes starting with the founding myth of Dinga, the first king of the Soninke Wagadu empire circa A.D. 800, who fathered many children and one large snake called Wagadu Bida. Snakes, thus, are connected to ancestor worship but could also relate to the treatment of diseases represented in the seated figure analyzed here. In the ancient oral histories of the Wagadu and Mali empires, illness was framed as a spiritual test and overcoming it, a mark of spiritual power for both the afflicted and their healers. Such beliefs persist into the present.”
The Baule mask from the previous Frederick R. Pleasants’ collection is a sculpture of rare elegance belonging to an extremely limited corpus of four masks created by a master Baule sculptor from the village of Essankro.
The Essankro workshop corpus consists of approximately fifteen statues and four masks that are the work of a single generation of artists who influenced each other rather than successive generations of masters and followers.1
I have identified four masks carved by the artists of this Essankro circle.2 All four have an elegant heart-shaped facial plane, a thin, elongated nose with small, slightly dilated nostrils, almost closed eyes expressing restrained intensity and contemplation, as well as a pinched, delicately shaped mouth. The hairstyle, like a tiara in the form of a bow, holds back rows of small, tight, parallel braids of decreasing size. Three discreet rows of scarification marks on the temples and at the tip of the nose are signs of distinction and elegance.
This mask, with its delicately modelled face surmounted by a small antelope head with curved and ridged horns, probably representing the cobe reed (Redunca Redunca or krekredia in Baule), stands out as a mask of refined inventiveness.
A second mask in the corpus, with the forehead also surmounted by an antelope head, purchased by Gaston de Havenon from the famous dealer René Rasmussen in the 1960s, could be the work of another, less talented sculptor, as judged by comparing the precision of the modelling and the tension perceived in the lines of the two faces. Furthermore, the widening of the forehead and the sharpness of the jaw lines are more marked on this mask.
1 de Grunne, B., “Sur le style des Baoulé et leurs Maîtres” in Fischer, E. and Homberger, L., Les Maîtres de la sculpture de Côte d’Ivoire, Paris, 2015, p. 88 and Vogel, S., “Known Artists but Anonymous Works. Fieldwork and Art History” in African Arts, vol. 32, no. 1, Los Angeles, 1999, p. 512 de Grunne, B., op. cit., Paris, 2015, pp. 88-91, no. 103 à 105” [Christie’s]
2. Tellem Figure (Mali)
TELLEM STATUE – FALAISE DE BANDIAGARA, MALI Price realised EUR 1,250,000 Estimate EUR 120,000 – EUR 180,000[Christie’s]
Lot excerpt [Christie’s]
“In the Dogon language, the name Tellem refers to the original inhabitants of the cliff. This population of farmers left their original territory – the Niger River region, at the time of the expansion of the Ghana Empire – to settle in the natural shelter of the cliff, south of the Bandiagara plateau, which they then occupied from the 11th to the 15th century. Their artistic production, a unique and original collection of sculpted works, also dates from this remote period.
This work is a remarkable example of its kind. Above all, it represents a major rediscovery and is an exceptional addition to the already known body work of this type. Its uniqueness is rendered by the singular appearance of the human figure: the highly elongated, almost abstract representation of a human – which is barely discernible and could be female – has its face and chest imprisoned beneath a rich petrified patina. No other tellem work of this kind on record has such a characteristic, with a single exception, the one published in Leloup, H., Dogon, Paris, 2011, p. 224, no. 16.
With regard to the normative classification put together by Alain-Dominique Reymond (Leloup, H., op. cit., 2011, pp. 393-396), we note on the present work the cohabitation of different types of patina on both sides of the object. In particular, on the front, mainly at the base and the legs, it has a “characteristic relief […] of a granulation similar to that of a fine-grained, slightly crushed or rounded morocco leather […] made up of elements of varied contours that fit together exactly, being separated only by a network of fine crevices”. This relief, identified by Reymond as type A.b, is mixed at the level of the torso and head with a type D patina: “This is a regularly cracked or fissured coating, but with a flat surface because each of the elements that make it up is of identical thickness. […] The mosaic, although irregularly fragmented, is nonetheless perfect because the delineation of each element fits perfectly into that of the adjacent ones, like the pieces of a puzzle. Visually, the image produced is that of a clay soil cracked by drought. In this type, which often cohabits with type A.b., the cracks are narrow, often little more than cracks that appear superficial.” (Leloup, H., op. cit., 2011, pp. 393-395).
As for the back, it is covered with a type E patina, defined by Reymond as “of ribbed appearance and texture” (Leloup, H., op. cit., 2011, p. 396). It is characterised by the continuous or discontinuous hilly overlay, where the nipples are typically separated by clearly defined and relatively deep ‘valleys’ […] This type of patina is clearly specific to statues of great antiquity (Tellem and early Dogon) and having had a long tradition of ritual use.”” [Christie’s]
3. Boyo Figure (DRC)
STATUE BOYO RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO Price realised EUR 1,068,500[Christie’s]
Lot excerpt [Christie’s]
“Boyo art is one of the major branches of African art.
Originating from ancient migrations of hunters and inhabiting a territory that stretches from the source of the Luama River to the north-west of Lake Tanganyika, the Boyo, communities described by Biebuyck as “Pre-Bembe”, form the core of a highly complex cultural and historical regional ensemble.
The genesis of Boyo sculptural art has been described in different ways. For Kun, it was nourished by the social and cultural interpenetrations with their Hemba, Songye, Kusu, Bembe, Luba and Tabwa neighbours. For Biebuyck, this art is archetypal of the great regional tradition of commemorative effigies. Commenting on several masterpieces of Boyo art, Alisa LaGamma and François Neyt focused on analysing its extraordinary inventiveness among regions already recognised as the most creative of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
While Boyo statuary resembles regional artistic styles, the most distinctive misi commemorative effigies – like this one – stand out by the intensity of their prodigious plastic clarity. The misi tutelary sculptures are individual portraits. The shrine of a single lineage would preserve up to seven effigies of successive chiefs, the largest being often considered the representation of the founding ancestor.
Kun distinguished two main styles in this corpus. His “spherical” style embodied by two statues from a village near the source of the Luama, respectively in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no. 1978.412.424) and the Menil Collection, is characterised by the fullness of the round face. The masterpiece in the Danis Collection represents his “cubist” style.” [Christie’s]
4. Salt Cellar (Sierra Leone)
Sapi-Portuguese Salt Cellar, Sierra Leone, Late 15th-early 16th century Lot Sold 889,000 EUR [Sotheby’s]
Lot excerpt [Sotheby’s]
“The Sapi-Portuguese ivory salt-cellar from the G. C. Marsiletti Collection belongs to the very select group of “Afro-Portuguese” ivories, of which no more than a hundred pieces are known in private and public collections worldwide. These have sometimes been called “objets pèlerins“ (“pilgrim objects”), and represent a meeting of local West African traditions and ancestral techniques with European and Portuguese influence. They were made in response to the demand in Renaissance Europe for exotic objects, and to fill the princely collections and cabinets of curiosities.
The first documentation of ivory objects brought back to Europe by Portuguese merchants and navigators dates to 1504-1505, when the treasury registers of the Casa de Guiné mention 18 instances of taxes paid on the import of spoons and saltcellars. Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) was responsible for the ‘discovery’ of the West African coast for Europe. He encouraged and financed the expeditions that enabled Portuguese navigators to pass Cape Bojador, which until 1433 was the southernmost point of the African coast known to Europeans. Lisbon would become a cosmopolitan center, where numerous trade routes converged from Africa and later the Indies, with Spanish, Flemish, German and Italian merchants in search of exotic objects and commodities.” [Sotheby’s]
5. Nkisi Figure (Kongo)
STATUE NKISI N’KONDI – KONGO RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO Price realised EUR 579,600 Estimate EUR 450,000 – EUR 550,000 [Christie’s]
Lot excerpt [Christie’s]
“Last autumn, the exhibition Résonance. Jean-Michel Basquiat et l’univers Kongo, initiated by Bernard Dulon, Julien Volper, Alexandra Dubourg and the Enrico Navarra gallery, placed the works of the American artist in dialogue with those of Kongo artists. The visual union of these two universes is striking: “the [Basquiat-esque] characters with bodies that seem to be pierced by spikes or brandishing an object” are reminiscent of “the aggressive attitude adopted by many Nkisi Nkonde” (Volper, J., “Basquiat et Kongo: une impression” in Résonance. Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Kongo universe, Turin, 2022, p. 27). This piece is an echo of Mater painted in 1982 (p. 66).
It was in the 1920s and 1930s that this magnificent figure of Kongo art was photographed, probably for the first time. This black-and-white photograph certainly enabled William Ockelford Oldman to archive or inventory his collection (Hales, R. and Conru, K., W.O. Oldman. The Remarkable Collector, Brussels, 2016, p. 129). Standing on its two feet, the “Venus’” appears imposing, wrapped in fabric straps, strings and splintered in some places with metal elements. The incredible presence commands attention, crowding out her male “counterpart” standing next to her.
This monumental female representation is a perfect expression of the authority and power her human counterpart may have had in the past. A formidable posture formalises her role as supreme arbiter: the arms positioned on the side create an echo to the power established by the two legs with their wide, ornamented feet. The abdomen, adorned with metallic elements, and the lower body, covered with ropes, all bear witness to the demands requested from the fetish. The magical charge also attests to iterative invocations. The protruding chest is preserved from any “attack” as if to protect a nurturing function. The treatment of the face and the haughty stance convey the sovereignty of the statue: the fearsome visible notched teeth, the raised chin, the protruding naturalistic nose and the eyes set with mirror fragments give it a striking aura. The ochre and red crusty patina resulting from the sprinkling of materials during rituals attests to its high seniority.
An object of magic and ritual that most certainly belongs to the community, or even to a lineage or clan, it is feared. Linked to the nganga, the fetish is used to protect and ward off spells at the request of the consultants. The serendipity of metal objects implanted in the fetish remains a physical and concrete signature of the repeated and prolonged use it has had within a community. According to Alisa LaGamma, curator of the exhibition Kongo. Power and Majesty, in 2015, “one of the fascinating things about looking at the artworks commissioned by Kongo leaders […] although they were male leaders, is the fact that communities trust women to look after the well-being of all” (personal communication, 2015). This rare depiction of a female power figure is a glorification of women by the artist: although framed by the symbolism of male power, she carries a protective power and an ideal of social behaviour that communities use as a model.
A true rediscovered masterpiece of incredible dimensions, this statue remains without doubt one of the most remarkable witnesses to female Nkisi N’Konde.” [Christie’s]
“Lobi sculptors1 gave to each work they carved characteristics that were strictly governed by the ritual use for which it was intended. We see from the first look that this superb male effigy belongs to the category of thílkòtína figures, statues of the great ancestors that every head of family possesses in the sacred chamber of his household, the thílduù2. We understand immediately that this sculpture personifies an accomplished ancestor, a man whose second funeral, bobuùr, has been successfully completed and whose vital principle or thil is first concentrated in a wooden cane placed in the vestibule of the house. Then, after years of ‘gestation’, a dream will tell the head of the family that this father or grandfather aspires to the status of kòtín, a great ancestor entitled to an anthropomorphic representation. It is then that his statue, along with that of his female alter ego, will be commissioned from a sculptor, and the thílkòtína couple will join their more ancient ancestors in the sacred chamber.
These venerated figures obey certain formal presence and strict aesthetics. They invariably adopt a quasi-symmetrical, hieratic posture, with their arms at their sides; this does not exclude grace and elegance, as is the case here where the volumes of the shoulders, chest, belly and thighs respond harmoniously, while the legs slightly bent and the belly projected forward, hollowing out the loins, convey rhythm and lightness to the figure. Beyond the imposition of their hieratic posture, the ancestral figures, both male and female, are differentiated, even individualised, by their hairstyles. And while almost all female statues display the shaven heads of menopausal women, most of the hairstyles worn by the male figures indicate the prestigious status they had attained during their lifetime, whether as soothsayer or healer, warrior or great hunter.
This figure is wearing the yuú-jimàní headdress, the “head that commands”3. Made up of a central crest and fine braids pulled back, it would be the prerogative of certain renowned healers, the thíldárá (sg. thíldaár), who mastered the handling of the dangerous category of ritual statues known as bùthìba. The latter are radically different from ancestor figures, in terms of both form and ritual function. Dedicated to a cult of protection, they are intended to trap the thíl or vital principle of another type of deceased, the one whose second funeral could not be held, condemning him or her forever to wandering and the status of an unfinished ancestor, most often animated by malevolent intentions. This is why the bùthìba are sculpted in such a way as to trap these wandering thíla by adopting a coded gesture – one or two arms raised, the hand in the mouth or on the stomach, etc. that is irresistibly reminiscent of the ills intended by these malevolent thíla that must be warded off by the manipulation of these gesticulating statues by the thíldaár healer, the ritual specialist personified by this magnificent figure of an ancestor.
1 Le terme « Lobi » est pris ici au sens large d’entité culturelle englobant l’ensemble des groupes ethniques qui participent à la grande initiation collective du Joro, c’est-à-dire principalement les Lobi proprement dit, les Birifor, les Dagara et les Teese / The term “Lobi” is used here in the broad sense of a cultural entity encompassing all the ethnic groups taking part in the great collective initiation of the Joro, i.e. principally the Lobi themselves, the Birifor, the Dagara and the Teese. 2 Le terme thilkotin, singulier de thikotina, n’est que rarement utilisé, parce qu’en règle générale la représentation de l’aïeul masculin était étroitement associée à une statue d’ancêtre féminine / The term thilkotin, singular of thikotina, is rarely used, because as a general rule the representation of the male ancestor was closely associated with a statue of a female ancestor. 3 Bognolo, D., Lobi, Milan, 2007, p. 42.” [Christie’s]
From the collection of the famed 1930s art dealer Paul Guillaume, this ancestor figure is the quintessence of the sculptural genius of the Fang-Beti of Atlantic Equatorial Africa. A long-known piece, it was acquired in June 2006 by the Durand-Dessert.
The statue’s head has two opposing parts (face and hair), perched on a cylindrical neck jutting from the elongated torso. Viewing the statue directly, the face is created with minimal forms, with a broad rounded quarter-sphere forehead, a perfectly polished surface (incised with a discreet axial scarification), and a face sculpted in a heart shape, with two rounded eyebrow arches leading to a very flat nose wide at its base, angular (platyrhinian), and simian in appearance. The eyes are enlivened with brass pupils (upholstery nails, of slightly different size). The mouth, very wide with thin lips, protrudes, above a somewhat withdrawn chin, the whole forming a prognathous volume, fully forward of the neck.
The second part, forming two-thirds of the head’s volume, sits on the cylinder of the neck. The hair, close to the head and consisting of three flat plaits with a decorative chevron pattern, follows the back of the head and ends at a slant at the nape. At the sides, the temples are shorn, highlighting rounded, forward-facing ears.
Within the vast body of Ntumu Fang statues featuring the “stretched” design, a certain number (less than a dozen) present this twin characteristic of highly refined modelling of the torso and outsized forearms. This pairing may be a characteristic feature of a specific atelier, artist or group of artists, likely from a specific region and time, which cannot now be identified. This is the case for a 52-cm statue from the former Pierre Vérité collection, acquired at the beginning of the 20th century and appearing in Perrois, L., La statuaire Fañ. Gabon, Paris, 1972, p. 222, no. 199. The same is true for a large (62-cm) statue from the former Dr Girardin collection, with provenance of Charles Ratton and Madeleine Rousseau 1942, held at le Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, with stylised flat hands.
This eyema byeri statue, with prestigious Paul Guillaume provenance, is both a superb masterpiece of perfect Fang classicism and a statue of highly original workmanship. An object of great antiquity, having been subject to ritual chipping at the hair and hands, an indication of its importance to tradition, this byeri may be compared to other previously referenced “outsized forearm” statues. With majestic bearing despite its size, the statue has been truncated at the lower legs. Its patina, thick and oozing in places, highlights the fine modelling of the torso and the back. This important figure, a defector of the world of the dead and a bearer of ancestor’s strength, is one of the major symbolic expressions of Fang humanism.” [Christie’s]
“Helena Rubinstein (1872-1965), charismatic champion of the beauty industry, remains to this day the symbol of successful self-made women and social emancipation. A passionate and versatile collector, she put together an important ensemble of African and Oceanic art in the image of what she was: remarkable, sophisticated, avant-garde and elegant. The “Empress of beauty,” a nickname coined by Jean Cocteau, was clearly fascinated by the aesthetic qualities of these unique far-flung objects: it is therefore not surprising that this masterpiece of Gabonese art was exhibited in her Parisian flat at 24 Quai de Béthune during the 1930s.
According to the stylistic classification of Kota reliquary figures, established by Alain and François Chaffin in L’art kota. Les figures de reliquaires, 1979, this very special piece is related to the Obamba style of Shamaye influence. Its typology can be linked to the Southern Kota.
This figure is distinguished by a geometric treatment and the extreme schematisation of the face conveyed by the artist, as well as the elegance of its lines. One of the rare witnesses of this corpus, this work is all the more remarkable through the stylisation of two faces on the central ovoid central part: a stylised semi-circular eye takes root on either side of each socket in high relief. The remarkable craftsmanship is evident in the juxtaposition of the brass strips – covering the face – radiating from both sides of the nose, the treatment of the dotted lines in repoussé around the median axis of the nose, including the mouth and eyebrows. In addition, the ornamental quality of the squared, triangular, as well as incurved motifs, is featured on the crescent-shaped upper ridge and the side headdresses. Although the rhombic base and the pedestal are missing, a powerful expressiveness emanates from this monumental sculpture.
A true rediscovery that has remained in private hands for over fifty years, this Kota masterpiece remains one of the most singular and remarkable of its type. For a similar example, see the one from the former Felix Fénéon collection published in Perrois, L., Kota, Milan, 2012, p. 95.” [Christie’s]
9. Grebo Mask (Liberia)
Grebo Mask Est. €300,000-€500,000 Price realized €300,000 (at bid) [Native]
Lot excerpt [Native – extensive]
As famous as they are enigmatic, masks like the one presented here with their instantly recognizable “cubist” structure were attributed to the Grebo and Krou populations settled in southeastern Liberia and southwestern Côte d’Ivoire. Very little is known about the original context and use of these “geometric-style” masks, but generally, it is believed that their cylindrical, protruding eyes reflected their all-seeing power. For Pierre Boutin, “the information we have [on these masks] is inversely proportional to their artistic celebrity. Unlike those of other south-western Ivorian ethnic groups (Wè, Bété, Niabwa, etc.), […] we know […] nothing about their function – play, funerary, initiatory, judicial -, the frequency of their performances – regular or exceptional – or the target audience allowed to see them – open, extended or restricted audience, with or without age or gender selection.” (1) Grebo masks of the type as the one presented here, are part of a very limited corpus. They are worn tilted backward and are characterized by a sometimes large, flat surface on which one or more pairs of cylindrical eyes, a parallelepiped mouth, and generally a protrusion on the forehead – and in this case chin – are projected into space. Typically, artificial ultramarine blue – so-called “bleu Guimet” – was applied on certain planes of the mask. In the case of our mask, the slender front part of the nose, the inside of the mouth, and the pupils of the eyes are painted with this vivid blue. Some traces can also be found alongside the edges of the frontal plane. In doing so, the sculptor managed to further emphasize the dynamic play of the mask’s contrasting volumes.
GREBO MASKS AND PABLO PICASSO: A REVOLUTION IN MODERN ART In some cases, the influence of African or non-European art on Western art has been disputed or turned out to be the result of all too-interpreted readings. The major (formal) influence of Grebo masks on modern Western art however cannot be disputed. The creation of Picasso’s Guitare from 1912 (now at MoMA, New York) which revolutionized modern sculpture of the 20th century, is inextricably linked to his discovery of this type of mask. It is known that by the time Picasso made his famous Guitare sculptures, he owned at least one Grebo mask (another one was bought on the flea market in Marseille in October 1912). Furthermore, he was undoubtedly familiar with the Grebo Mask that belonged to the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, which he visited in 1907. The fact remains that Picasso himself related to Henri Kahnweiler, and later to William Rubin, that the idea of representing the sound hole of the Guitare sculpture was directly inspired by the way the protruding cylinders in Grebo masks suggested (2). It should be noted that this “influence” of Grebo masks on Western sculpture is a one-direction influence. We can safely assume that the concerns of the Grebo artists were far removed from any artistic challenge that Western avant-garde artists were tackling. Nevertheless, it is no exaggeration to state that Picasso’s Guitare from 1912 would have never existed without the epiphany he got by studying the Grebo masks. It is interesting to note that at the time Picasso drew on the Grebo masks to radically free himself from a – albeit abstracted – mimetic representation, Ferdinand de Saussure had laid the foundation of his semiology, wherein language is presented as a closed system of signs. Signs are defined by their relation to others, by differences, and context. The use of a protruding cylinder to represent a hollow volume, the way Picasso did for the sound hole of his Guitare is actually the equivalent of de Saussure’s theory in a visual “language”. It is a striking example of synchronicity in the Western world, but for Picasso, it was the Grebo masks that triggered him to understand the same underlying idea as de Saussure’s semiology.
(1) Pierre Boutin, “Les masques “krou” de Côte d’Ivoire” in Afrique, Archéologie, Arts, nº 5, 2007-2009 (2) William Rubin, “Le primitivisme moderne : une introduction”, Le primitivisme dans l’art du 20e siècle. Les artistes modernes devant l’art tribal, vol. I, 1991, Paris, Flammarion, p. 19″
10. Dogon Figure (Mali)
Dogon – Niongom Figure, Mali Estimate 150,000 – 250,000 EUR Lot Sold 381,000 EUR [Sotheby’s]
Lot excerpt [Sotheby’s]
“Niongom Figures
By Hélène Leloup
We had identified a type of statue that appeared to be very old and, during our fieldwork in the southern cliff (Toro language), our informants had identified them and attributed them to the “Nonmo” or “Niongom. We hesitated to adopt the name thus indicated because, although our interlocutors spoke of these “N’iongom” as ancient inhabitants known to all, we had never seen them mentioned in the ethnographic literature. Desplagnes, in fact, did not take his investigation of the former inhabitants very far, knowing full well that this group had disappeared a long time ago. It is very difficult to transcribe phonetically a new word: considering the changing pronunciation according to the interlocutors, a nuance of sound changes the meaning.
[…]
Our informants were unanimous in saying that this was a population that had always lived in the Bombou, before the arrival of the Dogon-Mandé, some of whose rites had been preserved, for example the “Ara” rites or anranmognuna mythical ancestors, still used on the plateau to heal sterile women.
These statues attributed to the Niongom, all of a certain age, possessed a set of stylistic traits denoting a common origin[1]. Perhaps they were the ancient inhabitants of the Toloy corridor who had come down from their caves? This theory was entirely consistent with the way in which the discovery of the best-known statue of this type was described: that of the Musée de l’Homme brought back from Yayé by Denise Paulme and Deborah Lifchitz[2].
[…]
According to our information, these statues would not have been found in cemeteries but in abandoned altars from where the small number that survived thanks to their very hard wood, the minu. In Donno, they are called yébéné, which shows that they are very ancient pieces since the Yébéné designate the first immortal men, holders of the land.
Since the style of the sculptures that may have been brought by the Mande migration is unknown to us, we cannot judge exactly what these stylistic borrowings are. But it is obvious that certain characteristics of the Niongom style contributed to the formation of the classical Dogon style of the cliff: the arrow-shaped nose and diamond-shaped eyes in particular. Neither of them have facial scarification but sometimes a zigzag scarification from one shoulder to the other. All the statues designated by our informants belonged to the same coherent style, precise, full of strength, with accentuated volumes. They depict frustrated men with rough features: accentuated noses and mouths and, being ancient sculptures, are often very eroded.
The characteristics of the Niongom style: statues often of great size; round, exaggerated head, where the skull cap is sometimes accentuated by a cut; accentuated facial features, arrow-shaped nose; button or diamond-shaped eyes; prognathism; arms glued to the body; breasts attached to a sort of massive neckline (formed by the shoulders) over which runs a large chevron; no scarification marks, or else they are from families influenced by the Djennenke.
Many seem to be hermaphroditic, but wear and tear in many cases makes it impossible to say. For example, the Wunderman rider, crouching on a horse (?) with cast legs, has female breasts[3]. We have found about thirty interesting examples, but there are others that are often unknown because of their dilapidated state.
The niongom style has a notable characteristic: the use of the natural shape of the tree branch, of its curvature[4], which is rare in African sculpture. Of this type, the oldest known would be the one reproduced on plate 29, then the one reproduced on plate 3. The one in the Tervuren Museum is also shown, no. 66-21-31.
Leloup, Statuaire Dogon, 1994, p. 141-142-143
[1] Leloup, Statuaire Dogon, 1994, n° 25-33
[2] Leloup, Statuaire Dogon, 1994, n° 30
[3] Meauzé, L’Art Nègre, Sculpture, 1967, p. 154, n° 2
This post looks at the drivers of precedent set by institutions which returned cultural and private items, specifically when the same respect and treatment is expected for African Tribal Art and African peoples. “In Greece, there were renewed calls for the return of the the Parthenon Sculptures (also known as the Elgin Marbles) from the British Museum, and in Nigeria, there’s the ongoing campaigns for the return of the Benin Bronzes, artifacts mainly connected to a British raid on Benin City in 1897.”
September 12: The Netherlands announced they will begin the process for returning dozens of Nazi looted works of art to the rightful owners. “We will never be able to undo that suffering, but we can do as much as possible about it by returning as many objects as possible to them,” Simone van Wijk, an origin researcher with the Cultural Heritage Agency said.
2. Looted items (by non-Aggressors)
October 19: “Landscape of Italian Character” by Johann Franz Nepomuk Lauterer (above), stolen by an American solider during World War II, was repatriated to Germany thanks to Christopher Marinello, the founder of Art Recovery International, and the FBI’s Art Crime Team in Chicago. “On occasion, we come across cases, such as this, where Allied soldiers may have taken objects home as souvenirs or as trophies of war,” Marinello said in a statement. “Being on the winning side doesn’t make it right. We expect everyone to do the right thing and return stolen artwork wherever it may be located.”
3. Items deemed as ‘Living Spirits” or “Receptacles for Living Spirits”:
June 16th : Germany returned two wooden masks (above) to the indigenous Kogi community in Colombia….. “The Kalguakala [masks] are of total importance to us as they are sacred,” Arregocés Conchacala Zalabata, a representative of the Kogi, said. “They are not a historical artefact, they are alive. With the masks we perform ceremonies to connect and work with the spirit of the sun, the waters, the mountains and the world’s many species.”
4. Items transferred under duress as a result of pressure from a governing regime.
June 5: The city of Hagen, Germany restituted “View of the Sea from Haut Cagnes” by Auguste Renoir to the heirs of Jakob Goldschmidt, a Jewish banker persecuted by the Nazis. The city then repurchased it so it can stay on view in the Osthaus Museum. “The heirs of Jakob Goldschmidt are happy to have reached a satisfactory agreement for both sides in this matter after more than 15 years of intensive discussions,” their lawyer, Sabine Rudolph, said in a statement. “The restitution of the painting is a recognition of the fact that their grandfather suffered great wrongs under the Nazi regime, including huge financial losses.
5. Trafficking (Looting/Smuggling) of Cultural Assets :
July 11: The Illinois State Museum returned vigango, sacred wooden memorial statues, to Kenya. “These items are sacred and inalienable from the people who created them,” Brooke Morgan, a curator of anthropology at the museum, said in a statement. “Separating vigango from their rightful owners harms the spiritual well-being of the whole community.”
This particularly has a huge impact on the African Tribal Art community since items used in funerary or reliquary activities fall under a similar umbrella and it is not worth the trouble if one does not have a clear line of provenance and purchase.
Epilog : I will end this on two interesting notes.
“Ghana artifacts looted 150 years ago by British have been returned by a U.S. museum“. Seven royal artifacts looted 150 years ago by British colonial forces from Ghana’s ancient Asante kingdom and kept by a United States museum have been returned and presented to the kingdom on Thursday, the latest of a series of stolen treasured items being repatriated to several African countries.”
On another note: The Yale University of African Tribal Art has an amazing collection of African Terracotta (Sokoto, Katsina, Nok, Djenne). Many of these items were donated to the faculty and may have been purchased at some point in time with good intent. In particular however the legacy collection of Bayard Rustin may not pass the legal test for proper ownership since items were said to have been received as “gifts” in the 1950s which can pass as a euphemism for smuggling.
Plants typically absorb sunlight and convert the energy through photosynthesis to usable chemical energy while releasing oxygen. Humans convert food into chemical energy to support physical processes in the body. The physical process is part of an entire interconnected and balanced ecosystem. Beyond this however the human species possesses the faculty to create, comprehend and develop logic. This abstraction is the module within which the ‘African Tribal Spirit’ has been isolated and developed into a potent source of motivation, moderation, projection, control and self development. The purpose of the African Tribal Art in the ‘religious or protective’ (versus utilitarian) sense is to stimulate conditioned mechanisms via either an individual or on a collective basis, within the larger framework of a village or community.
This mask is attributed to the Bwa in Boni and Dossi. It represents “the butterflies that metamorphose and rise in clouds around the pools of water left by the first rains of spring. These masses of butterflies are a manifestation of the power of new life and the awesome power of the blessings of ‘God’…. This particular style [referring to a straight protuberance versus a hooked beak] , very long and decorated with a linear series of nested circles, is the only style correctly spoken of as a ‘butterfly’ or, more accurately, a spirit that takes this butterfly form.” The use of this mask in a ritual masquerade reinforces common ideals of beauty and respect for the environment held by the community. It may also play a part in developing the framework of a benevolent God-figure. On an individual level it may also act as a trigger in remembering an occasion where one may have witnessed a rabble of butterflies. This process is the ‘African Tribal Spirit’ – the mask itself while treasured and appreciated is not necessarily deified.
The article (see link above) says “As a result of the animal’s cultural connotations, buffalo imagery is prevalent in the arts of many sub-Saharan cultures. Its behavior and anatomy have served as a special source of inspiration in many of the subcontinent’s masquerades. In Central Africa, in addition to the realistically rendered depictions of buffalo heads in the helmets of Tabwa people, one finds a large number of carved buffalo heads especially among the so-called Kwango cultural complex in southwestern Congo – including Yaka, Sulu, Pende, and Holo (see Bourgeois 1991).”
The Spiritual energy of African Tribal art is not limited to the imagery of animals but can also be established via behaviors, ideals (discipline, bravery, moderation of aggression) and the intangible framework of a specified cosmological framework, eg. Ikenga, and Egungun from the Igbo and Yoruba peoples respectively.
The African Tribal Art generated by Burkina Faso tribes is simply amazing. The following map demonstrates the wide variety of masking traditions within its borders.
Burkina Faso Tribal Regions [The Land of the Flying Masks, Wheelock & Roy]
I came across a mask which featured characteristics of both the Nwenka (Bobo) mask and the Hombo (Bwa) mask. I finally landed on Hombo but arguments can be made for both sides. For ease of use I’ve divided the reference material into three sections and provided the links below.
BWA0224.pdf : Basic notes on Acquisition and Attribution glide path.
Land of the Flying Masks Burkina Faso [catalog notes]
Note #204 Diviner’s Figure Wearing a Hombo Mask, Bwa. Western Burkina Faso, woord, wax, cowrie, fiber, organic material, 23″ h Provenance: Jacques Hautelet
Diviner figure wearing a Hombo Mask (Bwa)
“This standing figure wearing a mask was part of a Bwa diviner’s altar and served as a vehicle of communication with the spirit world. The mask is a hombo mask, a term associated with a spirit honored by Bwa blacksmiths, Hombo masks take completely different forms among various black- smith lineages in different villages. The kobiay rooster mask with the large circular crest (cat. 135) is from Hounde; masks with an ax-like appendage erupting from the forehead (cats. 136 and 137) are from Ouri. There are a number of variations of the type of hombo mask worn by this figure. They are associated with Bagassi and Bahoun, the latter confirmed by Emily Hanna-Vergara, and, probably, other, yet to be identified, villages. (See the entry for cat. 149 for a brief discussion of the mask type.) The hornbill beak, pegged into the forehead, is typically found on masks of this genre. On full-scale masks they are wax-covered and embedded with red Abrus precatonus seeds. What appears to be remnant wax on this bird’s head may have, likewise, once held these seeds. The masks themselves often have design elements augmented by the addition of these wax-embedded seeds. The figure is draped in a fiber costume with decorative cowrie shells darkened by spot and sacrificial material. The ubiquitous blood-and-feather sacrifices encrusting the surfaces once charged this object with super- natural powers.”
#150 Hombo mask, Bwa with superstructure.
From Note #150 : This note refers to stylistic elements of the hombo mask shown above. The ‘dominant structural element is a double plank superstructure (and the accompanying cross member)’. The vertical elements are continuations of the facial plane which usually terminates with a V-notch or inverted trapezoid similar to or representing a stylized tail feather. Another important stylistic element is the shape of the portion of the back of the mask that surrounds the wearer’s head.
“This structure of the back of the mask takes a form sufficiently different as to point to an origin other than the Nuna-Nunua-Winiama complex. The back is a high walled, inverted U form, a shape strikingly different from the familiar round and oval-walled backs… the masks with flat vertical superstructures are spoken of as hombo spirits, a spirit associated with blacksmiths”.
There are similarities to the Nwenka mask as shown below but primarily related to the superstructure and the rectangular hole in the middle of same. The substructure of the Nwenka mask is tapered and the pegged hornbill head is absent.
Blacksmith’s Nwenka mask (#175, right)
“Note #174 Farmer’s ‘Syekele’ Mask with horns ‘kelepene’, Bobo Westem Burkina Faso, wood, remnant indigenous polychrome, 72″ h
Note #175 Blacksmith’s ‘Nwenka’ Mask with Superstructure, Bobo Westem Burkina Faso, wood, remnant indigenous polychrome, 68″ h. Provenance: Alain Schaffel, Patricia Whithois As a variation of the Kurumani prototype nwenka mask, this example (cat. 175) differs in the presence of two crenulated longitudinal ridges at either side of the face, the symmetrically placed cones at either side of the forehead, and the lack of defined lateral nostrils and mouth, although it should be noted that the lack of mouth typically defines a male mask. The kepelene mask (cat. 174) is close in morphological details to the prototype from Kurumani, where the cult originated. The differing features are the crenulations, which continue from the medial crest down the length of the nose, and the lack of carved abstract representations of eyelashes and eyebrows.”
This ‘teaser’ uses examples of Nayarit (Pre-Columbian Mexico) terracotta displaying facial and body scarification to link with similar examples of African art. In doing so the hope is to promote the idea of ‘African Art as Philosophy‘, a continuously evolving creative force and a universal theme which at its best encompasses the simple ideal of reflective thought and the communion of logical exchange as the zenith of human existence and spirituality.
Nayarit terracotta showing facial and body scarification
The article “The ‘haunting subhuman monstrosities’ of ancient Nayarit: a critical reassessment” [Judith Ryan] identifies early descriptions of Nayarit art as being “oversimplified reactions of aesthetic disregard” driven by an expectation of “naturalistic or realistic replication of the everyday world”. When one understands that “these human effigies were not created for the visual enjoyment of the living, but for burial with the dead… [and that] their purpose was sacred… and a mystical or cosmological principle also governed their form” it becomes clear that art can add substance to spirituality without addressing the full nature of spirituality.
‘It was the message delivered by Césaire at the First World Festival of Negro Arts in 1966 in his lecture, “On African Art.” In this speech, the Martinican poet warned the artists of the continent against imitation. He declared: In Africa, art has never been technical know-how, because it has never been a copy of reality, a copy of the object, or a copy of what we call reality. That is true of the best of modern European art, but that has always been true of African art. In the African case, the point is for man to recompose nature according to a deeply felt and lived rhythm, in order to lay on it a value and a meaning, to animate the object, to vivify it and turn it into a symbol and a metalanguage’.
Collecting African Tribal Art 