Ugandan Folk Art

A monumental, rare and important Oceanic Papuan Asmat People tribal carved war shield from the first half of the 20th century, collected from the coast of the headhunting tribe in Papua New Guinea, a Provincial Indonesian island in the mid 20th century. Among the Asmat, war shields are the most powerful symbolic element of a warrior's equipment, and have many layers of meaning. Traditionally, they were functional items used to protect warriors in battle by deflecting an enemy's spears and arrows. The carved and painted images on the surface of the shields were also intended to frighten the enemy and symbolize the power of the ancestors. Ancestral imagery appears on multiple forms of Asmat art...

Mid-20th Century Globular Vessel, Mangbetu People, D. R. Congo An unusually large and striking non-figurative vessel from the Mangbetu people, comprised of six lobes joined to a c...

A ritual artifact from the tribe of the Asmat poeple, an ethnic group of New Guinea living in the Papua province of Indonesia and South-western regions of Papua New Guinea, bis or bisj pole is carved out of a wild Mangrove tree and can reach a stunning height Their carvings depict stacked human and animal figures standing and on top always phallic symbols, in the shape of a canoe prow. Bis poles...

A Kuba mat from the Kasai region of the D.R.Congo These were used on the ground, there are photos showing the Kuba King seated on similar ones. Raffia cord is wrapped around the thic...

A beautifully formed headrest from the Karamojong in Northern Uganda. ‍Estimated Period: Mid-20th Century (Or Before) Ex Private Collection, UK

A Benin bronze of an Oba. Oba means ruler in the Yoruba language. Wearing a lattice-pattern cap with strands of beads suspended around the head. The neck is bound with a lattice-patt...

A chic modernist early 20th century Dan Peoples stool from Ivory Coast, carved from one piece of wood with a simple hourglass form, and the most wonderful p...

A beautiful bronze vessel, lidded pot on three legs, made by the Asante People, Ghana. Nicely cast lid with 4 reptiles and a bird. Several faces are depicted on the side of the vesse...

Forged iron currency, Chamba people, Northeastern Nigeria A piece of traditional currency used for barter or exchange, it measures 15 inches (38 cm) high by 18 inches (45.7 cm) wide...

Gelede festivals honor the creative and dangerous power of women elders, female ancestors and goddesses known as "our mothers". The Gelede headdress often consists of two parts, a lo...

Raw wooden ladder, primitive art of the Dayak people, Borneo, dating from the 1940s. This ladder was designed to climb into a Dayak house. Nice patina of the wood left by time and...

Bamana old original pair Chi Wara headdress. Chi Wara (Antelope Headdress.) The dry savanna permits no more than a subsistence economy and the soil produces,...