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The vast Yombe area – the forested region of the Lower Zaire River – represents an important geographic chapter in the artistic history of black Africa. It has the greatest, most prolific and finest concentration of maternity figures and stone statuary. The Yombe female phemba statues…
Continue reading → - Item Number: S-8497
- Provenance/Origin: Lower Zaire Rover, Congo. Circa 1960 - 1970s
- Composition: Wood, pigment, sisal rope, textile, basket material
- Dimensions: 16.5" tall x 5" wide x 7.5" deep
- Weight: 3 pounds
- Price: $ 390.00 USD
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Songye and Luba origins are shared and can be traced through lineages from the 16th Century. It is believed that the founders of the Songye emerged from the lake region in the Shaba / Katanga province in the southeast part of the Congo with the Lomami River…
Continue reading → - Item Number: W-7644
- Provenance/Origin: DRC. Circa 1940 - 1950s
- Composition: Wood, pigment, vegetal
- Dimensions: 36" tall x 18" wide x 6" deep
- Weight: 5 pounds
- Price: $ 785.00 USD
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The Lulua tribes – aka as Bena Lulua – migrated from western Africa in the 17th Century and found their home in the southern part of Zaire (aka Democratic Republic of Congo). They formed small chiefdoms and their social structure was based on a caste system. …
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-9699
- Provenance/Origin: Zaire. Circa 1940 - 1950s
- Composition: Wood, paint
- Dimensions: 16" tall x 9" wide x 8" deep
- Weight: 3.5 pounds
- Price: $ 410.00 USD
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After a long history of forced migration and union with other groups, the Yaka have been an independent society since the 19th century. Living in the northern Congo, the Yaka are primarily hunters, although they also practice small scale farming. The Yaka has a tight-knit control…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-3360
- Provenance/Origin: Northern Yaka. Congo. Circa 1960 - 1970s
- Composition: Wood, pigment, raffia, vegetal fibers and cloth.
- Dimensions: Mask is 21" tall x 7" wide x 10" deep (excluding raffia). On stand: 33" tall.
- Weight: 5 pounds with stand
- Price: $ 595.00 USD
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The Lulua people – who migrated from western Africa – are made up of small regional chiefdoms. They in turn often elect a common leader . . . a village chief. Masks – like this one – are used in rituals and ceremonies related to agriculture,…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-2285
- Provenance/Origin: Bena Lulua people. Circa 1970s
- Composition: Wood and pigment
- Dimensions: 17" tall x 9.5" at widest x 8" deep
- Weight: 3.75 pounds
- Price: $ 232.00 USD
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One of the most complex and intriguing Suku mask that I have every seen! The Suku (aka Basuku) are people from SW Congo and Northwest Angola. They speak a derivation of the Bantu language of the Niger-Congo group of languages. Suku women cultivate a root vegetable…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-1227
- Provenance/Origin: Suku peoples. DRC. Mid-1990s
- Composition: Wood, pigment, paint, vegetal fiber, cloth
- Dimensions: Figure & Helmet: 17" tall; Total with vegetal fiber: 24" tall; Width at horns: 16"
- Weight: 8 pounds with stand
- Price: $ 890.00 USD
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Look at the dynamic carvings of this helmet mask. The high and bulging forehead is quite normal for this ethnic group. But the depth and symbolism of the carvings is quite extraordinary. I have spent some time in trying to determine the significance of this…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-8069
- Provenance/Origin: Congo. Circa mid-1900s
- Composition: Wood and Cord
- Dimensions: 15" tall x 9" wide x 8" deep
- Weight: 2.75 pounds
- Price: $ 295.00 USD
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One of the three known royal masks, the helmet Bwoom is one of the oldest mask types used by the Kuba. These were introduced in the 17th Century by King Miko mi-Mbul. Most often used in funerals, they are also used…
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-5805
- Provenance/Origin: Kuba peoples. DRC. Circa mid-1900s
- Composition: Wood. Twine and fabric.
- Dimensions: 15" tall x 14" at widest x 16" deep
- Weight: 7.5 pounds (mask alone)
- Price: $ 835.00 USD
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Created by a shaman or Nganga who gathers spiritual items (organic materials, medicines, etc) which is placed in hollow cavities in the abdomen (and sometime the forehead). In this case, such spiritual items are behind a glass shield. Nails are driven into the statue as a…
Continue reading → - Item Number: S-0573
- Provenance/Origin: DRC Congo. Circa 1940s - 1960s
- Composition: Wood, nails, metal, fabric, glass, and more.
- Dimensions: 22" tall x 7.5" wide x 9" deep
- Weight: 8 pounds
- Price: $ 595.00 USD
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The Manyanga tribe live on the right bank of the Zaire (aka Congo) River. The location is near the tributary of the Lefini River. This is a relatively unknown tribe whose artists are known for their elongated faces, rounded cheeks, carefully rendered faces and nails. …
Continue reading → - Item Number: M-1535
- Provenance/Origin: Manyanga Tribe. Congo. Circa mid-1900s, perhaps the 1930s.
- Composition: Wood, pigments, nails, cloth with minor embellishments
- Dimensions: 18" tall x 11" wide x 6.5" deep
- Weight: 4.25 pounds
- Price: $ 315.00 USD
