Featured Curious African Artefacts

Hey all,

If anyone can tell me anything about these objects I got from an auction I would be really grateful.

According to the listings:

1)
Bamana antelope wooden headdress

2) Burkina Faso wooden dance mask, 120cm long

3) Mbole, Democratic Republic of Congo, wooden figure

4) Yoruba Oshe box and cover

Thanks a lot!

Calum

 

The first one is called the Buck of Mali. It was a popular motif for carvings in the 1960s for tourists to bring home. I've seen quiet a few around.

 

Thanks Darkwing!

 

So have I , but it's a nice one & I wouldn't discount it's age just yet......

 

The first is a "chiwara". You can find a lot of information online using that search term. Away from home right now, but I may have more info on that and others later.

 

For #4, the container, Google "Yoruba opon igede ifa". It is in the style of a container for divination paraphenalia.

 

OMG! That bowl is simply amazing!

 

#2, the Burkina Faso mask, is very similar to one published in Africa in the Market: Twentieth-Century Art from the Amrad African Art Collection. ed. by Silvia Forni & Christopher B. Steiner. Royal Ontario Museum: 2015, which is identified as made by a Nuna (Nouna) artisan, one of the ethnic groups in southern Burkina Faso. This mask was purchased in 1981 from a dealer at the market of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.


There is an excellent discussion of the art of Burkina Faso, including their masking traditions, here:
https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/37?start=0

 

What does the Yoruba bowl look like inside? Divination bowls should have interior divisions, like this:

https://www.hamillgallery.com/YORUBA/YorubaBowls/YorubaBowl02.html

Here is a description of Yoruba divination practices:
https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/16?start=0

"Oshe", by the way, refers to a dance wand, which is not what you have.

 

The chiwara (ci wara) headdresses were worn at agricultural competitions, annual celebrations, and public entertainments. Their use has become less frequent as the farming practices have changed in Mali, with the introduction of new equipment and the absence of the young men who travel to the towns and cities to find employment. But the headdress figures have become pan-African symbols of African art and identity, and are carved for sale in Mali and by artisans in other parts of Africa as well.


Pair of Headdresses (Chiwara Kunw)
Date:
Mid–19th/early 20th century
Artist:
Bamana
Baninko region, Mali
Northern Africa and the Sahel
ABOUT THIS ARTWORK
These headdresses were all worn by men in male-female pairs during performances celebrating the mythical farming beast named Chiwara, which introduced the Bamana people to agriculture. The rituals motivated young men to work hard. Each headdress combines the graceful horns of an antelope with the body of an aardvark. A young male calf sits upon the female’s back, symbolizing the fertile union of men and women and of the earth and the sun.
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/189595/pair-of-headdresses-chiwara-kunw


https://africa.si.edu/exhibits/cosmos/sun.html

A ci wara dance ceremony recorded in Mali:

 

Awesome video and amazing research! Thank you 2manybooks!

 

Thank you so much again 2manybooks. Your knowledge is amazing! I'll enjoy doing some reading over the weekend using the links and information you've given me. The inside of the box is divided like the one you've shown

 

So...it leads one to ask..

Why did u buy things you know nothing about?
How did you score pieces above what we usually see here....which are mostly also-ran tourist items..?
Where was the auction held?
( I mean like , how far out in the woods...?..)
Did you buy for interest...or resale ?

Just bein nosy.............

 

BTW...the standing man carving I believe is Oceanic ....

 

Thanks Komokwa! Now you mention it, it does have an Oceanic look to it. Whatever wood it is made of, it is very heavy

I visit the local general auctions here in the backwoods of the UK looking for stuff I find interesting Sometimes there's not a lot of competition for these things since most people go to the general auctions for furniture and paintings. Particularly when the auction is not online

I think i just got lucky this time (most of the things I end up with are of the more common souvenir type), I imagine these items came from the estate of a collector, I'll try to find out. A lot of the things I buy with a view of selling and i've sold a few things but a lot of the stuff I buy I like to hold on to. I might try to sell these (apart from the statue which I love) since I don't have the space and could use the $$

 

1. Why do we buy things we know little/nothing about?

Because we all did/do with the interest in history and beautiful things. Sometimes we just like something. Sometimes we get nostalgic. Sometimes we get caught up in the excitement of what COULD be. In any case, it is a learning process for each of us and we should NOT feel ashamed for chasing those dreams. We live. We learn.

2. How do we end up “scoring” tourist items and other “crap”?

Because we’re excited. Because we just simply don’t know. With all of the incredible cultures of the world, it is inevitable that we will all steer clear of these items. At least in the USA, we seem - as a society - exasperatedly ignorant of more than classic “tourist-type” information about any particular external culture. As we get older, we start to get some perspective on this and we get curious and excited and motivate ourselves to learn more.

3. How far out in the woods was this sale?

This is just plain insulting; implying the Buyer was stupid and had no idea what he was doing...or buying...we’ve ALL been there. But that’s one of the reasons this site exists, right? Having seasoned “pickers” provide input and (gentle?) feedback helps us learn to do better.

4. Did you buy for interest or resale?

Seriously?! We all buy for resale. We want to make purchases that will ultimately be worth resale so, as we learn and grow and tweak our own interests, we can refine our collection to items that we love that we want to have around us.

Rude comments deleted, read the rules

 

Yer welcome Calum !
It's an odd one to my eye...but the colors and paint scream Pacific Islands..
It's not unusual to find some Oceanic ...in an African collection !

Europe has a vast African art market....but a lot of it is suspect.
These items seem to have more honesty and value and may well have come from a collector with a good eye.
You , Sir....picked well & I think will see profit down the road.

Sometimes , auctions off the beaten path can hold nice finds !!

 

As the other objects seem to have been properly identified by the auction, and seem to have come from a knowledgeable collector, I am inclined to accept the identification of the standing figure as Mbole. It is a type that I am not familiar with, however, and so I have been doing a little more digging.

It seems the Mbole have a tradition of carving figures known as "ofika", which portray people who have been executed by hanging for violating rules established by a secret society/law enforcement known as "Lilwa". Such figures are used during the ceremonies for new initiates into the society. Characteristic features of the figures include a sunken face and torso, hunched shoulders, arms hanging limply by their sides or toward the front, and slightly bent knees. Some figures have feet that also hang down, emphasizing the suspended effect. (There is some discussion about figures that stand flat on their feet being representations of ancestors, rather than hanging victims, but this seems to be unclear.) They are often polychrome. This example from the auction is more roughly/simply carved than other examples I have found, but as a type they do not appear to be very common.


https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/peoples/show/Mbole

Here is another example from the Metropolitan Art Museum -
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/311032

 

I know nothing about your interesting items I’m afraid but I must say I love your fireplace tiles!