African Art & Wonders: A Collection of Cultural Treasures. In partnership with BAIAS Arte.

Three African Tuareg manillas
North Africa
Three finely chiselled and engraved North African currency.
The largest D cm 9
The smallest D cm 8

An unusual African cast bronze pendant
Mali - Dogon people
An old cast bronze pendant with six crocodiles heads join to a round shield.
H cm 12.5

Twenty-two African Akan bronze weights abrammuo
Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo - Akan people
A group of Twenty-two cast bronze small figures depicting both humans and animals used by the Ashanti people and in general by all the members of the larger group of the Ackan of West Africa as currency for trading.
H from cm 9 to 10

A bronze African Akan box with weights
Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo - Akan people
Lot comprising a square copper alloy box and cover for Akan gold weights (Abrammuo) and eight bronze weights.
The bronze box resting on four feet is embellished with moulded figures of bronze coins, and the upper handle of the lid is shaped as an Ashanti royal stool.
The box measures cm 16x9x9

An African wooden fly swatter
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kuba people
Carved wood with black patina and fur.
Anthropomorphic handle with dark animal fur.
L cm 26

A fine African terracotta head
Nigeria - Yoruba people
Patinated terracotta.
The hollow clay man's head depicts probably a high rank member of the Yoruba people with simple braided hairstyle.
H cm 16

An African Suku fetish figure
Democratic Republic of Congo, Suku people
Carved wood, jute, organic materials.
Two carved wooden human heads emerging from a single ovular jute body stuffed with various materials with magical meanings. This type of figure generally known as Nkisi are used by diviners in the healing and protection rituals, and are believed to contain spiritual powers or spirits.
H cm 50

Two African Tikar dolls
Cameroon - Tikar people
Engraved terracotta.
Two fine examples of Tikar handcraft depicting two seated figures.
Tikar people lived in the Tikar plain in Adamawa region. As for the other peoples of the Grassland of Cameroon, Tikar Art production is mostly focused on human figure represented with peculiar physical characteristics, including the exaggerated and almost caricatural dimension of the anatomical parts.
H cm 20
H cm 16

An African yellow Bamana mask
Guinea - Bamana people
Light wood painted yellow and black.
Mask depicting a woman's face painted in vibrant colours. The yellow face with its typical elongated features is highlighted by the black hair. Such bright and shiny colours are modern pigments introduced by Europeans since the 1920s and widely used by the coastal population of Guinea to paint their fishing boats.
H cm 36

A rare Dan anthropomorphic stool
Liberia - Dan People
Carved wood with black lustrous patina.
Ritual stool characterized by the presence of stylized human faces on both sides of the central section where is placed the large carved handle.
The use of such a type of stool is unclear and they are quite rare.
A similar stool was on sale in New York (Sotheby's, 16 May 2013).
In the description the curator attests: 'Apart from the present example, only two other dan stools, featuring two masks one on each side of the central support, are recorded: one published in Liberia - Arts&Crafts (Monrovia, 1971) and a second one at the Duke University, collected in situ by Georg Harle'.
H cm 29
D cm 21.5

An African sculpture of a prisoner of war
Democratic Republic of Congo - Yombe people
Dark patina carved wood with glass inlay.
Sculpture depicting a naked kneeling man with both hands tied behind his back and a decapitated body on the ground in front of him. The pose of the man and the expression of fear and dismay of his eyes show the harsh reality of the many summaries' executions related to the numerous wars that bloodied Congo in the last century.
H cm 45

A large African female figure
Mali - Bamana people
Heavy carved wood with brown patina.
A fine and large sculpture depicting a standing figure of a woman. The slender body supported by slightly bent legs is characterized by large breasts, long arms, strong neck and a small stylized head.
H cm 63.5

A fine African ceremonial staff
Ivory Coast - Baule people
Black patina carved wood with iron tip.
Ceremonial stick (Kpoman) characterized by the complex figurative apparatus consisting of the image of a man and the one of a breast-feeding mother. This type of ceremonial staffs were exclusive property of the Kpannyn, the head of the ceremonies performed during the tribe's sacral rites.
H cm 150

An African Mumuye standing figure
Nigeria, Benue River Valley Region - Mumuye people
Carved wood with dark brown patina and pigments.
The elongated shape of the body with a strong neck culminating with a small round head is typical of these artistic creations produced by the Mumuye and whose use is not yet perfectly clear. The Mumuye's sculptures are of different size and type. The hereby sculpture represents probably a woman, figure according to those specialists who indicate in the shape of the ears the gender of the figures: when small and trumpet shaped the figure should be a male and when large and pierced, like this one, female.
H cm 59

A fine D'imba African mask
Guinea - Baga people
Dark patina carved wood with nails and holes for raffia attachments. These powerful masks characterized by their large size and iconic aspect represent the embodiment of Nimba, the 'mother heart'. Nimba masks, symbol of fertility, are associated with all rites for both human procreation and agricultural fertility.
H cm 101

An imposing Yoruba house post
Nigeria - Ekiti people
Carved and painted iroko wood.
This large and heavy house post was supposed to be placed in the 'Afin' the palace of the village or in a sacred shrine to sustain the beam of the roof of the building. The complex carving of a single trunk of heavy iroko wood shows some of the typical subjects connected to the Yoruba tradition painted in bright colours. Subjects such as the horse raider and the kneeling mother can be observed in other important artefacts such as the complex and imaginative masks used in the Epa society cult connecting both in ancestor and agriculture.
H cm 173

An imposing African Moba figure
Togo - Moba people
Compact wood with natural patina.
A tall wooden Tchitcheri Sakab sculpture. The abstract human figure of these suggestive sculpture of such a large size were meant to protect the community from evil spirits. Partially buried in the ground they were usually placed in the centre of the village. Ethereal and suggestive figures, with their extreme formal abstraction, these sculptures entrust part of their charm to rough finish of the surface, often worn due to long exposure to elements and to the attaks of Xylophagous insects.
H cm 152

An African ritual cup
Mali - Senufo people
Carved wood with dark patina.
Wood sculpture depicting a female figure seated on a low three-legged stool with both hands resting on her hips and holding a round cup on her head.
H cm 35

An African Ekpo Janus crest mask
Nigeria - Ekoi people
Wood covered with animal skin.
This particular kind of crest mask sits atop the head of the dancer during the Ikem, ceremonial plays of the Ekpo society, performed to venerate the ancestors. Old masks of this type were made using human skin, nowadays they are made using antelope skin.
H cm 20.5

An imposing African Yagalagana figure
Nigeria, Benue river valley region - Mumuye people
Light wood with black lustrous patina.
This extremely stylized human standing figure of exceptionally large size constitutes one of the most iconic examples of artistic abstraction in African Art. Yagalagana sculptures always represent standing human figure whose somatic features are always very stylized. According to some scholars, the definition of the gender in these sculptures is entrusted to the shape of auricles: if large and pierced the figure depicts a female on the contrary males are identifiable by small often funnel-shaped ears. Use for divination the Yagalagana figures, carved by blacksmiths or weavers, are kept in separate huts protected and watched by the village healer.
H cm 112

A fine African Mangam crest mask
Nigeria - Mama people
Carved wood with polychrome pigments.
The Mangam cow-shaped masks with their simple lines and vibrant colours are a typical example of refined formal abstraction in African Art and embodies the wild and powerful spirit of the bush buffalo, primary source of the sustenance for the people of the great African plains.
L cm 49

An African 'Gunyege' mask
Liberia - Dan people
Carved wood with shiny black patina and traces of encrusted patina with kaolin around the eyes.
This type of mask, commonly known as 'racing masks', embodies the supernatural spirit Gle, secret god of the forest and tutelary deity of the Dan people, now skilled farmers but in recent past fearsome warriors.
Gunyege masks are worn by the young members of the community in foot races held on special occasion. The fastest young men, at the end of the race, is awarded with this powerful mask as a trophy.
cm 21.5x13

An African Chiwara head crest
Mali - Bamana people
Carved wood with encrusted brown patina.
The zoomorphic wood crest depicts Chiwara, a mythical creature that taught humankind to farm and take care of the land. In Chiwara the forms of various animals such as the antelope, the tapir and the anteater can be recognized, merged in a chimera-like appearance.
H cm 48.5

A large African Bundu mask
Sierra Leone - Mende people
Carved wood with traces of old black patina.
This type of mask, carved by men, can be worn only by high-ranking members of the wealthy female Bundu society during its important initiation rites where the dance master called Ndoli Jowei, embodies Sowei the tutelary deity of the female community.
H cm 30