Nigeria

Female reliquary figure, Fang Mabea, Southern Cameroon, 19th century. Wood, upholstery nails. H 45 cm. © Serge Schoffel - Art Premier Provenance: W.D. Webster, Bicester, Oxfordshire, n° 7395. Literature: W.D. Webster, Ethnological specimens, European and Eastern arms and armour, Prehistoric and other curiosities, 1899, Vol. 3, n° 22, fig. 50. Churinga, Aboriginal people, Australia, 19th century. Wood, pigments, fat. H 172.5 cm. © Serge Schoffel - Art Premier. Provenance: Henry Hubert, a road engineer working in the Kalgoorlie... [Lire la suite]

Lot 5. Heurtoir Yoruba, Nigeria. Ivoire. H. 31,5 cm. Estimate €2,500 - €3,500. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr Ancien et beau heurtoir à divination (Iroke Ifa) sculpté dans sa partie centrale d'une tête anthropomorphe en très haut relief. Très belle patine d'usage rouge avec incrustations de poudre blanche utilisée lors des rituels de divination. Provenance: - Ancienne collection du comte René de Beaumont. - Vente Cornette de Saint Cyr Drouot Montaigne le 30 juin 1994, lot 36. Spécimen en... [Lire la suite]

Lot 31. Masque Waja-Wurkun-Bikwin, Nigeria. Bois, pigments rouges et noirs, matériaux divers... H. 151 cm. Estimate €4,500 - €7,000 €. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr Ces grands masques dits d'épaule caractéristiques de la région de la Bénoué sont généralement attribués aux Waja, Wurkun ou Bikwin.De par leurs dimensions et stylisation, ils comptent parmi les objets les plus spectaculaires de l'art Africain. Références : Pour un développement atour de ce type de masques, cf:Berns, Fardon and Kasfir... [Lire la suite]

Yoruba Artist, Nigeria, “Dance Staff for Esu/Elegba”, Late nineteenth–early twentieth century. Wood, 16 x 3 1/2 x 8 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 1980.500.72, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta In this dance staff made to honor Èshù, two faces look in opposite directions. Èshù is a deity honored by the Yoruba people of Nigeria and known throughout the African Diaspora as Elegua or Elegba.Èshù mediates opposing forces to bring together different worlds. He bears messages from the... [Lire la suite]

Lot 15. Statuette masculine Yoruba, Nigeria. Ivoire. H 16 cm. Estimation: €3,000 - €5,000. Adjugé 8 450 €. Courtesy Cornette de Saint Cyr. Belle et importante représentation d'un personnage assis tenant un bol de ses deux mains. On notera le traitement particulier des pieds dont seuls les talons touchent le sol. Le classicisme du style indique une origine dans les ateliers royaux d'Owo ou d'Oyo Si comme pour la plupart des ivoires Yoruba qui ne sont pas des iroke ifa, la fonction précise d'une... [Lire la suite]

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong will present Curiosity V on 2 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. In its fifth instalment, the sale offers an eclectic and thought-provoking assemblage of works ranging across time and geographical space, from Ice Age Siberia, to Bronze Age China, Ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe. Highlights include an important Neolithic jade cong from the Liangzhu culture formerly in the distinguished collection of Duan Fang (1861-1911); a monumental stucco Buddha head dating from the... [Lire la suite]

EVANSTON, Ill. - An ambitious new exhibition will showcase the splendor and power of the lost kingdoms and commercial centers of Africa, using centuries-old artifacts from sites around the Sahara Desert and artwork from West and North Africa, Europe and the Middle East that reveal the reach of Saharan networks, in a firstof-its-kind show that will open in January. The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University’s “Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa” is the first major... [Lire la suite]

Pair of bracelets: Crocodile Heads, Edo peoples, Nigeria, Court of Benin, 17th–19th century. Brass, gilt. H. 5 1/4 x W. 3 3/8 in. (13.3 x 8.6 cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1991, 1991.17.80 & 1991.17.81. © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The oba and chiefs of Benin wear pairs of ornate bracelets at palace festivals. Long and cylindrical, these cufflike ornaments may be made of either ivory or brass and display imagery reflecting the exalted status of their bearers.  The spiral... [Lire la suite]

Bracelet, Edo peoples, Nigeria, Court of Benin, 1550–1680 (?). Ivory, copper (?). H. 5 1/8 x Diam. 3 9/16 in. (13 x 9 cm). The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1964, 1978.412.340. © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. At palace festivals, the king and chiefs of Benin wear pairs of long, cylindrical bracelets made of ivory or brass decorated with images that symbolize royal power. On this example, images of mudfish and Portuguese heads--both referring to... [Lire la suite]

Hip Ornament: Face, Edo peoples, Nigeria, Court of Benin, 16th–17th century. Brass. H. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1991, 1991.17.49. © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Benin history, religion, and political structure are brought to life every year in a series of palace rituals intended to purify the kingdom and renew the spiritual powers of the king, the oba. Many of these vivid and solemn rites were introduced by individual obas in order to commemorate events in their reigns... [Lire la suite]