Chicago - Folk Art
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Item Ships From: Chicago
Tabwa Staff with Female Figure
Located in Chicago, IL
This hand carved 20th century wooden staff, was crafted in the style of the Tabwa people located along the southwestern shores of Lake Tanganyika. The handle is finely decorated with...
Category
20th Century South African Folk Art Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Petite African Redware Vessel
Located in Chicago, IL
This petite hand-formed vessel bears a richly textured surface of worn red clay slip and dark smoke marks. Likely intended for everyday use, the simple bottle-form vessel reflects th...
Category
15th Century and Earlier Malian Primitive Antique Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Terracotta
Yoruba Egungun Headdress Mask
By Yoruba People
Located in Chicago, IL
Attributed to the Yoruba people of western Nigeria, this wooden headdress was worn during a masquerade known as egungun. A widespread Yoruba ritual, egungun performances honor a comm...
Category
Early 20th Century Nigerian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Jim Rose - Construct No. 02, Salvaged Steel and Aluminum Industrial Objects
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Jim Rose, known primarily for his steel furniture, was an avid collector and scoured salvage yards for unique, interesting items. Here he has welded together various washers and cyl...
Category
2010s American Folk Art Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Metal, Steel
African Red & Green Painted Mortar
Located in Chicago, IL
Abstract and sculptural, this wooden form demonstrates the timeless appeal of African art. Hand-carved to an hourglass shape, the unusual figure is actually a grinding mortar, compri...
Category
20th Century African Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Modernist Dan Peoples Stool
Located in Chicago, IL
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...
Category
Early 20th Century Ivorian Modern Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Set of Five Iron Phallus Fertility Figures
Located in Chicago, IL
A wonderful set of five early 20th century iron phallus figures from Togo. Fertility figures like these were planted in the ground of a farmer's fiel...
Category
Early 20th Century Togolese Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Iron
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 Nigerian Tribal Antique Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Copper
Victorian Travel Grooming Kit, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This charming antique box dates to the late 19th century and is a Victorian-era travel kit with sewing and grooming tools, also known as an etui or nécessaire. The compact travel cas...
Category
Late 19th Century American Victorian Antique Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Metal
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 Nigerian Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Shell, Fabric, Beads
Painting from a Kwoma Ceremonial House Ceiling
Located in Chicago, IL
A painting from a Kwoma ceremonial house ceiling depicting an abstract polychrome pattern on a sago palm spathe.
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
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Category
Mid-20th Century Papua New Guinean Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Natural Fiber
Sculptural Vintage Drill Bit Tool Display
Located in Chicago, IL
A wonderfully sculptural early 20th century American set of 32 steel large drill bits mounted on a wood base, originally used in a workshop, but brought into...
Category
Early 20th Century American Industrial Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Steel
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 Nigerien Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Brass
Benin-Style Bronze Figural Pipe Mouthpiece
Located in Chicago, IL
World-renowned for high-quality lost wax casting, the city of Benin in West Africa has been a leading producer of fine cast brass and bronze sculptures since as early as the 16th cen...
Category
Late 19th Century Nigerian Folk Art Antique Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Bronze
Dida Tie-Dyed Ceremonial Kerchief
Located in Chicago, IL
An incredible and rare mid-20th century Dida (Ivory Coast) hand-plated Shibori tie-dyed raffia ceremonial kerchief mounted on a linen stretched frame. This kerchief was not woven on ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Ivorian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Raffia
Baule Painted Kpan Mask
Located in Chicago, IL
To ward off evil and exert positive influences on the spirit world, the Baule people engage in a daylong masquerade known as the Goli. A sequence of four masks are donned during the ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Mossi Incised Currency Bracelet
Located in Chicago, IL
The blacksmiths and sculptors of the Mossi People were held in special regard by the tribe's ruling class. Their ability to shape bronze and other precious metals into currency and status symbols made them valuable members of the powerful tribe. The intricate design of this currency bracelet...
Category
Mid-20th Century Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Bronze
Dida Tie-Dyed Ceremonial Kerchief
Located in Chicago, IL
An incredible and rare mid-20th century Dida hand-plated Shibori tie-dyed raffia ceremonial kerchief mounted on a linen stretched board. This kerchief was not woven on a loom, but ra...
Category
Mid-20th Century Ivorian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Raffia
Mounted Dida Tie-Dyed Ceremonial Kerchief
Located in Chicago, IL
An incredible and rare mid-20th century Dida hand-plated Shibori tie-dyed raffia ceremonial kerchief mounted on a linen stretched board that floats off the wall in the shape of the k...
Category
Mid-20th Century Ivorian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Raffia
Handblown Gold Flecked and Fused Black Murano Glass Carnivale Masks
Located in Chicago, IL
Pair of Murano glass carnivale masks. Handblown and molded gold flecked black cased glass with infused colorful circular details.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Murano Glass
Dida Tie-Dyed Ceremonial Kerchief
Located in Chicago, IL
An incredible and rare mid-20th century Dida (Ivory Coast) hand-plated Shibori tie-dyed raffia ceremonial kerchief mounted on a linen stretched frame. This kerchief was not woven on ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Ivorian Mid-Century Modern Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Raffia
Beaded Ndebele Fertility Doll
Located in Chicago, IL
A rare imported commodity, glass beads have been a symbol of wealth and importance in south African cultures for centuries, and were exclusively distributed by the region's oba (king). As beads become gradually more accessible throughout the 19th century, they began to displace the organic materials used in traditional art and attire.
This colorful example of African beadwork is a fertility doll...
Category
20th Century South African Folk Art Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Cotton, Wood
African Basuku Helmet Mask
Located in Chicago, IL
During their five hundred year history in the Southern Congo, the Basuku tribe developed a series of intricate rituals built around their skilled mask makers. This particular example was most likely carved in the likeness of a deceased chieftain. The artisan intentionally pronounced the eyes, cheeks, and chin to provide a terrifying test for young men as they underwent their rites for manhood. The Basuku's spiritual expressions inspired early 20th century western painters...
Category
20th Century Congolese Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Petite African Redware Vessel
Located in Chicago, IL
This petite hand-formed vessel bears a richly textured surface of worn red clay slip and dark smoke marks. Likely intended for everyday use, the simple bottle-form vessel reflects th...
Category
15th Century and Earlier African Primitive Antique Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Terracotta
African Nupe Terracotta Vessel Support, c. 1900
By Nupe
Located in Chicago, IL
The Nupe people of Nigeria were touted as some of the finest ceramicists in Africa. Everyday objects, like this elegant, cylindrical vessel support, received detailed attention. This flaring terra cotta form would have been buried halfway in the ground, in a Nupe home, and used as a stable base for a stack of traditional round pots...
Category
Early 20th Century Nigerian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Terracotta
Yoruba Osanyin 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 Nigerian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Steel, Iron
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 Nigerian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Metal
"Universal Soldier" Ghanaian Hand-Painted Movie Poster
Located in Chicago, IL
Starring Jean Claude Van-Damme and Dolph Lundgren, Universal Soldier was a pulpy action/sci-fi from the early 1990s. The film's international success is...
Category
1990s Ghanaian Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Paint, Paper
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 Nigerian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Iron
Beaded Ndebele Fertility Doll
Located in Chicago, IL
A rare imported commodity, glass beads have been a symbol of wealth and importance in south African cultures for centuries, and were exclusively distributed by the region's oba (king). As beads become gradually more accessible throughout the 19th century, they began to displace the organic materials used in traditional art and attire.
This colorful example of African beadwork is a fertility doll...
Category
20th Century South African Folk Art Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Cotton, Wood
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 Ethiopian Primitive Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Chinese Robed Puppet, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Hand puppets, like this one from China’s Zhejiang region, have been a popular form of entertainment for centuries. In the late 19th early-20th century this tiny robed gentleman proba...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Silk, Wood
Stamped & Polished Metal Tribal Mask Wall Hanging
Located in Chicago, IL
Stamped and cut polished metal tribal mask. Foliate headdress, pierced and plated lower lip with pierced ears joining together in a necklace. Three dimensional with lacquered black b...
Category
20th Century American Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Lacquer
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 Cameroonian Tribal Chicago - Folk 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 Nigerian Minimalist Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Iron
Senufo Locking Currency Bracelet, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
Time honored texture and form define this Senufo sculptural object. The abstract etchings were achieved through a process known as scarification. The artisan meticulously traced and ...
Category
Mid-19th Century Ivorian Antique Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Copper
Nupe Gourd Water Vessel, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Inspired by the natural world, nupe ceramicists fired this water vessel in the shape of a gourd. The vessel's varied textures and colors come from its utilitarian design. The paralle...
Category
Early 20th Century Nigerian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Ceramic
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 Burkinabe Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Ceramic
Tibetan Saddle Carpet with Floral Medallions, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This unusually-shaped carpet is known as a "makden" and was originally used by a nomadic traveler as an artful covering for his horse. Placed between the saddle and the horse, the makden cushioned the rigid saddle and kept the horse warm in cold climates. Most under-saddle carpets...
Category
Early 20th Century Tibetan Tibetan Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Fabric, Wool
"Crystal Hunt" Ghanaian Movie Poster
Located in Chicago, IL
Starring Donnie Yen, "The Bruce Lee of the 90s," "Crystal Hunt" was a martial arts film from Hong Kong made in 1991. Frequently, theaters in Ghana were unable to import official post...
Category
Late 20th Century Ghanaian Folk Art Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Canvas
"Iron Sponge Car" by Patrick Fitzgerald, 2019
By Patrick Fitzgerald
Located in Chicago, IL
To Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald, his sculptures are a means of traveling through time. Working from found materials, Fitzgerald constructs miniature soap box cars and the ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood, Paper
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 Nigerien Tribal Chicago - Folk 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 Nigerien Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Terracotta
"Senzo Titulo 'Michelangelo Antonioni'" by Patrick Fitzgerald, 2022
By Patrick Fitzgerald
Located in Chicago, IL
To Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald, his miniature car sculptures are a means of traveling through time. Born from a fascination with the soap box derby cars of his youth, each vehicle is an exercise in imagining the future through the lens of the past – or vice versa.
Built from found materials collected over the years, the car's futuristic form is layered with personal memories and keepsakes from the past. The most minute of details is always intentional – from the weathered finish to the fictitious sponsor to the miniaturized furnishings of the cramped interior.
This coloful vehicle entitled “Senzo Titulo” is a play upon the 1964 film "Il Deserto Rosso," or "Red Desert," by Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood, Paper
"Man in Green Shirt" by Allan Winkler
By Allan Winkler
Located in Chicago, IL
Although this whimsical sculpture by Allan Winkler has the look of outsider art, this ceramic work stems from the art school-trained artist’s interest in...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Ceramic
Outsider Art Santa Claus, Acrylic On Paper.
Located in Chicago, IL
Just in time for the season, an outsider art child like Santa Claus painting done in acrylic on brown paper. Framed in a red lacquered wood and g...
Category
Late 20th Century Canadian Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
"Embrace" Luba Headrest Sculpture
Located in Chicago, IL
The Luba people of Zaire believed that ancestors visited them through dreams. This belief led to elaborately worked headrests, known as "seats of dreams." Such headrests were used to...
Category
Mid-20th Century Congolese Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
Outsider Artist Mixed Woods Chair Sculpture
Located in Chicago, IL
Consisting of lighter and darker woods laminated together for strength and geometry, this handmade chair sculpture had to have been a work of art brut. Round seat back echoed in the ...
Category
1960s American Vintage Chicago - Folk Art
Nigerian Nupe Vessel Support
By Nupe
Located in Chicago, IL
The Nupe people of Nigeria were touted as some of the finest ceramicists in Africa. Everyday objects like this elegant, cylindrical vessel support received detailed attention. This f...
Category
Early 20th Century Nigerian Primitive Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Terracotta
Set of Three Beaded Ndebele Fertility Dolls
Located in Chicago, IL
A rare imported commodity, glass beads have been a symbol of wealth and importance in south African cultures for centuries, and were exclusively distributed by the region's oba (king). As beads become gradually more accessible throughout the 19th century, they began to displace the organic materials used in traditional art and attire.
This colorful example of African beadwork...
Category
20th Century South African Folk Art Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Cotton, Wood
Handheld Chinese Mooncake Mold, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This late 19th century hand-held wood press is carved with a large mold used for shaping festive mooncakes. Packed with lotus root, red bean, or other regional fillings, mooncakes ar...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Chicago - Folk 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 Ivorian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
"Vijay Path" Ghanaian Movie Poster
Located in Chicago, IL
Vijaypath was a Bollywood action hit in 1994. It's critically acclaimed soundtrack topped charts across the world and became one of the most recognizable in India's history. The film's international success is evident in this hand-painted advertisement...
Category
Late 20th Century Ghanaian Modern Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Fabric
Hansa Mechanical Huge Stuffed Hippopotamus Almost 4 Feet Long
Located in Chicago, IL
Hansa plush mechanical Stuffed Hippopotamus
Hansa was created in 1972 by German-born Hans Axthelm. Each and every Hansa stuffed Hippopotamus animal, is hand sewn using the inside-ou...
Category
1980s Philippine Vintage Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Acrylic
Yao Silver Chain Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This finely crafted piece was made high in the mountains above Thailand, Laos and Burma (modern day Myanmar) by an indigenous hill tribe. The Yao people are skilled silversmiths who ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Laotian Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Silver
Bamun Copper Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Composed of fifteen miniature heads welded onto a circular form, this intricate necklace is styled after the prestige collars worn by royalty of the Kingdom of Bamum, a pre-colonial ...
Category
20th Century Cameroonian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Metal
Terracotta Bura Spirit Vessel, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Buried with their flared mouths facing down, these cylindrical storage vessels protected the deceased's possessions as they transitioned to the afterl...
Category
Early 20th Century Nigerien Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Terracotta
Yoruba Painted Veranda Post
Located in Chicago, IL
Hand carved with a figurative design, this TOTEM-like wooden post was crafted by an artisan of the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria. Resembling the tall houseposts used to support the roof of a home, this shorter post would have been placed on a veranda courtyard as a symbolic and decorative element and did not bear weight. This veranda post...
Category
Mid-20th Century Nigerian Tribal Chicago - Folk Art
Materials
Wood
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Why Jules Chéret Was the King of the Modern Poster
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