Items & Description
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(1) AFRICAN WOMAN FIGURE
MATERIAL: TERRACOTTA ORIGIN: AFRICA SIZE: 14cm x 13cm x 32.5cm A woman carrying two children may relate to Africa’s deep respect for family. Some African families would practice “Classificatory Family System” where children may call their uncles, father and their aunts, mother.They may also call their cousins, brothers or sisters. (2) HORSEMAN MATERIAL: TERRACOTTA ORIGIN: UNKNOWN ORIGIN SIZE: 19.5cm x 8cm x 30.5cm Horsemen in Africa are called “Riders of Power”. African horsemen are respected because horses symbolize great strength. (3) MATERNITY FIGURE MATERIAL: TERRACOTTA ORIGIN: DELTA REGION OF THE NIGER RIVER MALI, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 4cm x 5cm x 14.3cm The meaning of this ancient maternity figure is unknown. Perhaps such figures served as symbols of the primordial mother in the history of a clan in which the sculpture originated. (4) ASHANTI FERTILITY FIGURE MATERIAL: WOOD ORIGIN: ASHANTI TRIBE IN SOUTHERN GHANA.WEST AFRICA SIZE: 20cm x 7.5cm x 6cm Ashanti people have strong family relationships. This figure brings prosperity to their homes. (5) WOOD FERTILITY DOLL ASHANTI GIRL MATERIAL: WOOD ORIGIN: GHANA, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 15.5cm x 6.6cm x 39cm Standing with open arms, this doll symbolizes fertility. Her face is beautiful and expressive and serves as a joyful symbol of tradition. (6) RELIQUARY GUARDIAN FIGURE MATERIAL: WOOD WRAPPED WITH COPPER ORIGIN: HONGWE PEOPLES, MCKAMBO AREA, GABON ATLANTIC COAST EQUATORIAL AFRICA SIZE: 17.5cm x 10.8cm x 5cm The skulls and bones of the Honhgwe ancestors were preserved in reliquaries called bwiti (or bwete) because they believe that the skeletons of important men retained their power after death. This powerful relic is expected to protect and benefit the families that owned them. (7) BENIN FIGURE MATERIAL: BRONZE , BENIN ORIGIN: BENIN, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 17cm x 17cm x 68.5cm Almost all of the art in Benin Kingdom was created to honor the King Oba who has reigned with his ancestors from the 15th century. Each piece is still sculpted by hand and then cast in bronze through the lost wax process. Figures that do not depict the king show members of his court. (8) COTE’ D’VIORE (IVORY COAST) MATERIAL: WOOD INLAID WITH GLASS BEADS, SHELLS AND CLOTH ORIGIN: IVORY COAST, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 11cm x 9cm x 40cm Ceremonial statue, carved most likely, by the People of Ivory Coast. |
(9) BAMBARA FIGURE
MATERIAL: WOOD ORIGIN: MALI, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 20.5cm x 8.7cm x 31.5cm The Bambara numbering 2,500.000 million form the largest ethnic group within Mali. The triangle of the Bambara region, divided in two parts by the Niger River, constitutes the greater part of the western and southern Mali of today. The dry savanna permits no more than a subsistence economy, and the soil produces, with some difficulty, corn, millet, sorghum, rice, and beans. This figure represents komo society are the custodian of tradition and is concerned with all aspects of community life agriculture, judicial processes, and passage rites. (10) BENIN STATUETTE MATERIAL: BRONZE ORIGIN: BENIN, WEST AFRICA SIZE 6.5cm x 4.5cm x 10.5cm The powerful ancient Benin kingdom was founded by the son of an Ife king in the early 14th century AD. It was situated in the forest area of southern Nigeria, 106 miles southeast of Ife. The art of bronze casting was introduced around the year 1280. The kingdom reached its maximum size and artistic splendor in the 15th and 16th century. The numerous commemorative brass heads, free-standing figures and groups, plaques in relief, bells and rattle-staffs, small expressive masks and plaques worn on the belt as emblem of offices; chests in the shape of palaces, animals, cult stands, jewelry, etc. cast by Benin metalworkers were created for the royal palace. (11) AFRICAN FAMILY STATUETTE MATERIAL: ALLOY ORIGIN: BENIN, WEST AFRICA, SIZE: 11.5cm x 9cm x 15.5cm Early African civilization would always use copper alloy for sculptures because it has high resistance against corrosion or the chemical component that withers sculpted materials. (12) DOGON STAUTE RITES OF PASS AGED HOUSE MATERIAL: WOOD ORIGIN: MALI, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 10cm x 14cm x 61.5cm This represents spirits, ancestors, this figure were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function , timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their society. (13) FINE OLD MAN (BAULE MALE ANCESTOR) MATERIAL: WOOD ORIGIN: VORY COAST, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 10.5 cm x 13 cm x 18 cm This is a very beautiful old carving of an important male ancestor. The figure sits a top of the chair, on its backrest, perhaps signifying status over the common man and perhaps even over the colonial peoples who would have brought such chairs to the Baule (14) AFRICAN MASAI TRIBESMEN MATERIAL: COPPER ORIGIN: MASAI KENYA, EAST AFRICA The Masai is one of the longest enduring semi-nomadic ethnic group that reside in Kenya and Tanzania. They are well known for their unique traditions and clothing. Their livelihood is centered on raising livestock and their diet consists of milk, meat and blood of their cattle. Their tall, graceful figures emphasize their athletic prowess, an essential trait for the warrior people. (15) LUBA FEMALE ANCESTOR STATUE MATERIAL: WOOD ORIGIN:CONGO, AFRICA The vast Luba territory, comprising the entire southeastern part of the DRC, as far as Tanganyika and Lake Mweru, is uniform as regards language and culture, but racially mixed. This figure is a Luba artistic work and used for ancestor and spirit cults, for initiation, medical and divination purposes. Their favorite theme in sculpting is a woman since according to the Luba myth, vilie was the first woman spirit, founder of the clan and guarantor of fertility and the lineage. |
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(16) BRONZE WARRIOR STATUETTE
MATERIAL: BRONZE ORIGIN: BENIN, WEST AFRICA SIZE: 13cm x 19cm x 31cm, This statuette entitles the Benin people to engage into war and to conquer lands. (17) SCEPTER (MVUALA) FINIAL MATERIAL: IVORY ORIGIN: CONGO, CENTRAL AFRICA Figure of a mother and child of a ruling class as indicated by her cap “chief’s hat” and carefully coiffed hair, filled teeth and jewelry. This piece symbolizes women as the source of human fertility and the bearer of healthy children. |
