Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
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Place of Origin: Sub-Saharan African
Vintage African Urembo Beaded Necklace Choker Kenya
Located in North Hollywood, CA
African Urembo Beaded vintage necklace choker by the Maasai Tribe Kenya
Vintage African Urembo beaded necklace choker.
Handmade in Kenya by the ...
Category
Late 20th Century Folk Art Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Beads
Tutsi (Rwanda) prestige bottle with vegetal fibre
Located in Bilzen, BE
An exceptional prestige bottle from the Tutsi tribe (Rwanda), the bottle is decorated with a very fine weaving vegetal fibre (museum quality)
Heigth 33 cm, diameter 7.5 cm
This bott...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Natural Fiber, Glass
Conical Leather and Straw Tribal Fulani Hat, Mali West Africa
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Conical leather and straw tribal Fulani hat, Mali West Africa
Folk Art organic fiber hat with leather applications that comes from the Fulani people in West Africa.
It is typically worn by the Wodaabe, a nomadic cattle-herder subgroup of the Fulani.
The organic straw is covered in leather straps both at the brim and top and with decorative leather elements in the middle. At the very top of the hat there is a knob which is covered in leather. At the base of the hat there is a chinstrap.
The hats were featured on dancers in the 2018 music video "All the Stars" by the artist Kendrick Lamar...
Category
20th Century Folk Art Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Early 20th Century Ethiopian Stool with Phallic Form
Located in London, GB
Finely carved from a single piece of wood, this stool from the Sidamo region of Ethiopia displays a wonderful sculptural quality. Four cone-shaped legs support the stool's slightly-c...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Hedle Pulley from the Baoulé / Baule tribe, Ivory Coast
By Baule Tribe
Located in Bilzen, BE
Baoulé / Baule loom hedle pulley from the beginning of the 20th century
Rich tribal patina and using traces
Beautiful stylization of the face
with custom base as shown in the photo...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
1930's Beaded Snuff Container. Zulu, Southern Africa
Located in London, GB
This intimately-sized 1930's Zulu snuff container has been beautifully decorated with glass beads. A circular opening features on one side, and on the other side, overlapping blue-an...
Category
1930s Tribal Vintage Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood, Beads
Incised Copper Currency Anklet
Located in Chicago, IL
Time-honored texture and form define this Nigerian copper sculptural object. The intricate geometry was achieved through a process known as scarification. The artisan would meticulou...
Category
19th Century Tribal Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Copper
Yoruba Beaded Sash, c. 1950
Located in Chicago, IL
This intricately-constructed colorful train was painstakingly created by Yoruba artisans in Nigeria in the mid-20th century. Recent designs such as this were based upon...
Category
Mid-20th Century Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Shell, Fabric, Beads
Oromo Igbo African Gourd
Located in Winnetka, IL
This African piece was made by the oromo igbo people of ethiopia
It is a gourd with weaved fiber and metal covering it with intricate design and patterns
It has a lid with it which is usually not found
It definately has age but not sure of its exact year
This vessel is a lovely african artifact...
Category
Early 20th Century Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Metallic Thread
Bamana N'tomo mask, Mali, 20th century
Located in NICE, FR
Bamana N'tomo mask, Mali, 20th century
"Generally surmounted by three to eight horns forming a comb, the N'tomoface mask refers to a moment of compulsory education given to uncircumcised young boys in certain West African societies. The mask's discreet, even absent, mouth emphasizes the behavior expected of them in their future adult life after training: controlling and measuring their words, knowing how to keep quiet, preserving secrets and enduring pain in silence."
Excerpt from Masques du N'tomo, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière Collection, Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, France.
The Bambara, or Bamana, live in central and southern Mali. Their name means “unbeliever” and was given to them by the Muslims. Animists, they believe in the existence of a creator god called Ngala, who maintains the order of the universe and coexists with another androgynous god called Faro, master of the Word, who gave all qualities to mankind and makes the fruits of the earth grow. Traditional Bamana art objects are closely linked to agrarian rites.
The Bamana dance these masks during initiation and circumcision ceremonies for young boys in the Ntomo society. The face, with its vertical outgrowths at the top, adopts geometric features beneath a rounded forehead, including an imposing busted nose, as the Bamana favor this organ in their statuary as it evokes sociability and clan cohesion. Indeed, during choreography, the dancer frequently touches the nose of the mask.
As teaching aids for candidates, masks from societies accessible to young boys and adults, such as the N'tomo, Korè and Ci wara...
Category
1930s Tribal Vintage Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Navy Framed Mud Cloth or Kuba Cloth in Floating Acrylic Frame Gold Standoffs
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
Navy blue Kuba cloth or Mud cloth framed in acrylic with gold standoffs. Beautiful dark navy blue mud-cloth sandwiched between two pieces of custom acrylic. Four holes on the four co...
Category
1950s Tribal Vintage Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Cotton, Acrylic, Lucite
African Fulani Currency Bracelet, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Characterized by its open shape capped with geometric ends, this bracelet is but one form of the many types of body adornments favored the Fulani people of West Africa. The thick des...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Brass
Nigerian Nupe Storage Vessel
Located in Chicago, IL
The Nupe people of Nigeria were known as some of the finest ceramicists in Africa. Everyday objects, like this storage vessel, received detailed attenti...
Category
Early 20th Century Primitive Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Terracotta
Figura tribal africana Baule
Located in VALÈNCIA, ES
Figura tribal africana de origen, Senegal o Costa de Marfil
Category
1940s Tribal Vintage Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Beninese Bronze and Rope Bust
Located in Miami, FL
Created in Benin some time during the late 19th Century, and acquired at the Albert F. Gordon Tribal Arts Gallery in New York in the early 1970s, this is a bronze cast bust embellish...
Category
Late 19th Century Tribal Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Bronze
1960's Himba Head Adornment
Located in London, GB
The Himba of Northern Namibia are immediately recognisable by their distinctive hairstyles, which are determined by their age, gender and marital status. Both Himba men and women wea...
Category
1960s Tribal Vintage Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Natural Fiber, Beads
Luba Royal antique caryatid enthronement emblem early 20th DR Congo Africa
Located in Leuven, BE
Rare Royal caryatid seat Luba Rd Congo in Cubist style and cascade shaped coiffure (see pictures).
Patina of use
Height: 35cm
Early 20th century (around 1920).
Superb and rare except...
Category
Early 20th Century Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Hardwood
Fine Traditional Doll. Nyamwezi, Tanzania
Located in London, GB
The body consisting of a gourd in a beautiful form and decorated with a simple contrasting band of old glass beads of white, red and blue.
A piece with a wonderful form that was tra...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Beads
Masque tribal en alliage de bronze ancien Mid - century
Located in THONON-LES-BAINS, FR
Masque tribal présumé Sénufo en alliage bronzier ancien circa 1950. D'une patine du temps vert de gris oxydée, ce masque est une création artisanale de talent et unique. Il représent...
Category
Mid-20th Century Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Bronze
Fine Mid-Twentieth Century Mother and Child Figure
Located in London, GB
This beautiful mid-twentieth century figurative sculpture depicts a mother, crowned with a sweeping double-parted coiffure, holding her child at her side. Multiple strands of glass b...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Hardwood, Beads
Mid-20th Century Beaded Neck Adornment and Apron. Pokot, Kenya
Located in London, GB
Among the Pokot, body adornments are visual signifiers of power, wealth and status within the community. Given as a gift to a new bride by her husband, this finely beaded neck adornm...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Beads
African mask Toussiana bird Burkina Faso Mid XXem
Located in Paris, FR
Toussiana Plank Bird from Burkina Faso Mid XXem
Provenance: private Swedish collection , auction
The TOUSSIAN live in the Southwest of Burkina Faso. The mask presented here is a Loni...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Dogon Tribe Hardwood Carved Rhythm Pounder from Mali, Africa
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Museum quality Dogon tribe ironwood percussion pounder reportedly collected from a Tellem cave in the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali. Collected in the late 1970’s with approximate age...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Hardwood
Bamileke Mask With Attached Original Sotheby's Receipt from 1979, Cameroon
Located in London, GB
This fine and early Bamileke mask, carved from a heavy hardwood, features a vibrant expression. The surface of the mask exhibits a deep, well-worn patina...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Guere Mask from Cote d'Ivoire Africa with Sotheby's Sticker
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Guere wood mask with paint and fiber remnant from We people displayed on a metal stand. The We people (also known as the Krahn or Guere) are an indigenous African people that inhabit areas in nowadays eastern Liberia and western Côte d'Ivoire. Their material culture shares many aspects with the neighboring Dan tribe. Like the Dans, the We use a wide variety of masquerades, which hold important regulatory position within their small, egalitarian communities. Masks are owned by families and used by individual lineage members in contexts of social control, ritual ceremony and entertainment. This type of Guere mask, however, has a distinct fearsome character. The ferocious design with jagged facial expression, bulging tubular eyes are intended for use in mediations between community members, as visual aids during moral lessons, as well as forms of entertainment. By portraying the more frightening nature of the animal, the mask is viewed as powerful and may have been used as part of social control methods prior to the introduction of Western law systems during the colonial period.
The mask on offer, based on our examination, appears to be an original one that was used natively instead of reproduction made for the tourist market. The surface presents apparently genuine patina consistent with use. The red paint that highlights the eyes and gapping mouth also appear original. There are small losses flanking the nose ridge by the eyes, extensive surface accretion, remain of some fiber tassels. The back of the mask reveals chisel marks from hand tools and importantly, stain marks that were likely from repetitive contacts from the nose of the wearer.
The mask is 9" in height, and it retains an old Sotheby’s catalog...
Category
20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
A Powerful Female ‘Bakorozai’ Initiation Mask
Located in London, GB
A Powerful Female ‘Bakorozai’ Initiation Mask
The brown patina testifies to the ritual use and great age of this rare mask
Wood
Loma / Guerze-Kpelle, Liberia
Late 19th Century
...
Category
Late 19th Century Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Genuine brass figure from thje Songye tribe, DR Congo, first half 20th Century
By Songye Tribe
Located in Bilzen, BE
A genuine figure from the Songye tribe DR Congo cast in brass dating from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century.
The casting is done in sand and the figure has never been c...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Brass
Bambara Granary Door Lock in the Form of a Crocodile, Mali
Located in London, GB
This mid-twentieth century Bambara door lock from Mali has been carved into the form of a crocodile, a symbol of protection in the Bambara culture. The crocodile-shaped door lock, ad...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Hardwood
Early 20th Century East African Carved Headrest, Ethiopia (Kambatta People)
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
Showing a crescent shaped headrest braced by flattened 'V' shaped supports rising from a cupped base, decorated overall with hand carved linear motifs and exhibiting an old rubbed su...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
19th Century Bronze Gold Weight Depicting a Traditional Hunter. Akan, Ghana
Located in London, GB
This Akan gold weight depicts a traditional hunter, smoking a pipe. He is shown holding a knife, with a second knife secured in his belt. A musket is balanced over his shoulder, and ...
Category
19th Century Tribal Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Bronze
Ethiopian Carved Wooden Headrest
Located in Chicago, IL
So as not to muss their intricate hairstyles while sleeping, Ethiopian women would traditionally rest their heads on these petite wooden stands. The combination of conic base and con...
Category
Early 20th Century Primitive Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Yoruba Omo Bell, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This four-sided brass face bell, known as omo, was created by an artisan of the Ijebu Yoruba People of Southern Nigeria. A mark of the wearer's rank and power, the bell would have be...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Metal
Superb 19th century Kuba pipe DR Congo African Art Kasaï
Located in Leuven, BE
Superb 19th century Kuba pipe DR Congo
People : Kuba
Country : DR Congo, Sankuru River
Early 20th century
Wood
Length : 51 cm
This elaborately carved and ornamented tobacco pipe wa...
Category
Early 20th Century Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Palmwood
Haussa People, Nigeria, Dagger with Organic Handle
Located in Leuven , BE
Beautifully crafted dager from Nigeria (Haussa People) with an organic handle.
Hausa people are frond in northwestern Nigeria and adjacent southern Ni...
Category
20th Century Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Metal
African mask Yaure tribe Ivory Coast Circa 1950
Located in Paris, FR
African mask from Yaure tribe in Ivory Coast Circa 1950. Beautiful dark patina.
Swedish private collection, from the 1980s then inherited within the family.
Yaure tribe art is renow...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Yoruba Osanyin Healing Staff, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
To cure mental and physical ailments, Yoruba priests and diviners invoke the aid of Osanyin, the god of herbal medicines. Used in divination rituals to cure the afflicted, this iron ...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Iron
1940's - 1950's Pare Maternity Figure, Tanzania
Located in London, GB
This finely carved mid-twentieth century figurative sculpture, from the Pare culture in Tanzania, depicts a female with large, prominent ears. Standing in a proud, upright stance, sh...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Hardwood
Sleep Guardian or Kata Sergo Ethiopia TOTEM 1 in Solid Natural Cedar Wood
Located in Paris, FR
TOTEM 1 sleep guardian or Kata Sergo from the ethnic
Gorague´, South / South West Ethiopia. Different ridges
are intended to evacuate the bad vibes from the fireplace
to the top h...
Category
19th Century Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Bronze
Traditional African Sculpture of Mursi Woman with Lip Plate - Ethiopia
Located in Barueri, SP, BR
This stunning bronze golden-colored sculpture, crafted in Ethiopia, represents a Mursi woman, embodying Ethiopian craftsmanship's rich cultural heritage and artistic expression. The piece is striking and thought-provoking, featuring a meticulously sculpted bust with distinctive cultural elements. The sculpture pays homage to the Mursi women of Ethiopia, encapsulating their strength, resilience, and beauty.
The sculpture presents a fascinating fusion of realism and abstraction, with finely detailed facial features and textured elements. The golden finish adds a regal quality, making it an eye-catching centerpiece in any collection. It showcases traditional craftsmanship with a modern interpretation, making it a rare and valuable piece of African art.
Background and History
Like many indigenous groups across Africa, Mursi women have played vital roles in shaping their societies. Ethiopian art...
Category
20th Century Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Bronze
Abstract primitive head Fragment of a Dogon Sculpture."
Located in Vosselaar, BE
A beautifully patined Dogon fragment of a head sculpture. Because of its natural wear perhaps even being more abstract and natural. As African art inspired the European modernist mov...
Category
Early 20th Century Primitive Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Bamileke Figurative Round Stool
Located in Chicago, IL
Marked by the telltale Bamileke rounded disc seat and base, this stool features a group of pondering human figures as its vertical supports instead of the more common abstract carvin...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Yoruba Osanyin Healing Staff, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
To cure mental and physical ailments, Yoruba priests and diviners invoke the aid of Osanyin, the god of herbal medicines. Used in divination rituals to cure the afflicted, this iron ...
Category
Early 20th Century Minimalist Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Iron
Terracotta Bura Spirit Vessel, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Sometimes called a "Bura bell" due to its shape, this sculptural terra cotta object was part of the Bura tribe's burial ritual. Buried with its flared mouth facing down, this cylindrical storage...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Terracotta
Terracotta Bura Spirit Vessel, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Sometimes called a "Bura bell" due to its shape, this sculptural terra cotta object was part of the Bura tribe's burial ritual. Buried with its flared mouth facing down, this cylindrical storage...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Terracotta
Small 19th Century Kamba Elder's Chair With Beaded Lizard Motif, Kenya
Located in London, GB
High-backed chairs of any form are rare in Kenya. This small elder’s chair, consisting of and a dome-shaped backrest, is supported by four legs.
The back ...
Category
19th Century Tribal Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood, Beads
Toussian Storage Vessel, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Ovoid pots were an elegant storage solution in African tribal life. This beautifully balanced example is attributed to the Toussian people of Western Burkina Faso. Masterfully made to protect its contents from the elements, pots such as this one were coiled by female ceramists to hold food or personal...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Ceramic
African Textile SHOWA KUBA, also for Backrest Cover
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
Vintage African Kuba textile, suitable for a modern wall panel, on a long table or to make pillows.
an IDEA: use this item as backrest covering of a sofa....
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Raffia
Early 20th Century Female Figure. Lwena/Chokwe, Angola-Zambia
Located in London, GB
This early twentieth-century figurative sculpture, from the Lwena/Chokwe culture in the Angola-Zambia Border Region, depicts a female standing in an upright stance.
A defining char...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Single Ethnic Isicholo Bridal Red-Ocher Hat from South Africa, Zulu People
Located in Atlanta, GA
One Isicholo African Hats. This red-ochre dyed women's hat is from the Zulu people, South Africa, and is made of a combination of cotton, human hair over a...
Category
20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Cotton, Grasscloth
19th Century Igbo Spiral Copper Alloy Arm Adornment/Currency, Nigeria
Located in London, GB
Cast into a beautiful coiled form, this copper alloy Igbo woman's arm adornment from Nigeria was also used as a form of currency. This 19th century piece has developed a lovely green...
Category
19th Century Tribal Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Copper
Pair African Gourd Storage Vessels, Kenya or Ethiopia, early-mid 20th Century
Located in Austin, TX
A fantastic pair of large African gourd storage vessels with native repairs, early to mid 20th century, Ethiopia or Kenya.
This pair of dried and hollowed gourd vessels would origin...
Category
20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Natural Fiber
Superb museum quality Holo mvunzi wooden statue late 19th century Congo
Located in Leuven, BE
Superb and rare museum quality Holo mvunzi wooden statue late 19th/early 20 th century DR Congo / Angola
For sale at Art Gallery Decoster Belgium
Tribe :...
Category
Late 19th Century Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Painted Baule Blolo Bla Figure
By Baule Tribe
Located in Chicago, IL
The figurative sculptures of the Baule peoples of Cote d'Ivoire are recognizable by their strong, gently curving forms and serene composure. This figure of a woman was carved to repr...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Kuba Ceremonial Palm Wine Cup ('Mbwoongntey'), DRC
Located in London, GB
The decorative details adorning this ceremonial cup reflected the owner’s wealth, status and influence within the Kuba Kingdom. This anthropomorphic Kuba cup ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Luba Royal antique caryatid enthronement emblem Mid 19th century DR Congo Africa
Located in Leuven, BE
This Luba Royal caryatid stool from DR Congo Luba was in the 19th century used a Royal enthronement emblem. Luba leaders trace their ancestry to a dynasty of sacred kings, and Luba r...
Category
Mid-19th Century Primitive Antique Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Hardwood
Fine Female 'Biteki' Figure (Ex Romy Rey Collection)
Located in London, GB
This beautifully carved 'Biteki' figure, from the Yaka culture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, depicts a female crowned with a large, abstracted coiffure. The figure exhibit...
Category
20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
Pair of 'Reunited' 1930's Bamileke Anthropomorphic Flutes, Cameroon
Located in London, GB
Together, these two finely carved flutes display a wonderful interplay of the abstracted forms of a 'male' and 'female' figure. A strip of snake skin has been wrapped around the 'bo...
Category
Early 20th Century Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
West African Tribal Senufo Daybed, 21st century
Located in Munich, DE
Beautiful antique African daybed. Hand-carved daybed from West Africa (Ivory Coast or Mali). The Senufo bed belongs to some of the most elegant examples of African design. Carved fro...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Tribal Sub-Saharan African Tribal Art
Materials
Wood
