Art Gèlèdè, miroir d'une société

The Musée Africain of Lyon is currently showing an exhibition showcasing the art of the Gelede tradition. Devoted to the honor of women, Gelede are the most important spectacles in the Yoruba-Nagos culture, mainly located in eastern Benin, southwestern Nigeria and eastern Togo. The Gelede tradition was born in Benin in the late eighteenth century, and is still very much alive today among the Yoruba, Nago and Fon cultures. The exhibition features thirty masks and objects from the Jean-Yves Augel collection.

For more information, visit the official website.

Image courtesy of the Musée Africain de Lyon

Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilization

On view until August 2, 2015, the British Museum presents a major exhibition on Australian Aboriginal art, the first of its kind ever to be held in England. The colonization of Australia is closely associated with England, since it played a key role in the Western discovery and exploration of the “island continent” and, tragically, also in the decimation of its native cultures. Titled Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilization, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see the museum’s remarkable collection of Australian art, the oldest pieces of which were brought to England as early as the 1770s. The exhibition will also feature works lent by a variety of other prestigious institutions such as the British Library, the Pitt-Rivers Museum, and the Cambridge Museum.

Learn more at the British Museum's official website.

Turtle shell mask  -  Mer, Torres Strait Islands 

Kunmanara Hogan, Tjaruwa Woods, Yarangka Thomas, Estelle Hogan,
Ngalpingka Simms and Myrtle Pennington, Kungkarangkalpa (detail), 2013

Images courtesy of the British Museum

Giant Masks from the Congo at the Belvue Museum

On view until September 2 at the BELvue Museum in Brussels is Giant Masks from the Congo – A Belgian Jesuit ethnographic heritage, a collaborative exhibition courtesy of the Royal Museum of Central Africa, the Belgian Society of Jesus, BELvue Museum, and the King Baudouin Foundation. The installation will display a series of “giant” Yaka and Suku masks used during initiation rituals. Objects from the Heverlee missionary collections are complemented by masks and statues from the collections of Tervuren. 

For more information, visit the exhibition's official website.

Images courtesy of the BELvue Museum

Visions of Humanity in The Exceptional Sale - Christie's

Christie's will present a special selection entitled Visions of Humanity as part of The Exceptional Sale on July 9 in London. While the larger sale focuses on decorative arts and furniture, Visions of Humanity comprises a range of tribal African and classical European works.  Highlights of the special selections, pictured below, include a magnificent Luba bowstand attributed to the Warua Master and a  beautiful Chokwe warrior figure.

For more information, view the online catalogue at the Christie's website.

Bowstand with female figure  -  Luba, D.R. Congo 

Commemorative figure of a warrior chief  -  Chokwe, Angola

Images courtesy of Christie's

Mossgreen Preview – The Dr. Peter Elliott Collection

On June 25–26, Mossgreen will present a preview of selections from its upcoming sale of the collection of Dr. Peter Elliott at Messum's in London. Amassed over many years of world travel, the Elliott Collection includes a multitude of fine tribal works from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippine Islands, Vanuatu and the Himalayas. 

View more auction and preview information here.

Images courtesy of Mossgreen

Tribal Art Sale at Artcurial

Artcurial will present a sale of fine tribal art and artifacts on June 22 in Paris. Featuring just 67 lots, the auction will focus on African masks and statuary with a limited inclusion of Oceanic objects.

For more information, view the online catalogue.

Mask  -  Punu, Gabon

Mask  -  Baule, Côte d'Ivoire

Mask  -  Kuba, D.R. Congo

Images courtesy of Artcurial

New Acquisitions at Jacaranda

Jacaranda is now presenting a new online exhibition of fine tribal art and artifacts from Africa, Polynesia, New Guinea, and elsewhere. This fresh round of offerings includes an imposing Dan mask with canine teeth, a gorgeous Luba headrest, a wide range of well preserved Pacific clubs, Nguni beadwork from South Africa, and more. For greater detail on all these objects and many, many more, visit jacarandatribal.com

Mask  -  Dan, Liberia or Côte d'Ivoire  -  Early 20th century

Lance, katoua  -  Niue  -  19th century

Stick with figural finial  -  South Africa  -  Late 19th or early 20th century

Headrest  -  Shona, Zimbabwe  -  Late 19th or early 20th century

Headrest  -  Luba, D.R. Congo  -  Late 19th or early 20th century

Three tapa beaters  -  Polynesia  -  18th and 19th century

War club, macana  -  Arawak, Guyana  -  18th or early 19th century

Five clubs  -  Australian Aboriginal  -  19th century

Rootstock club  -  Fiji  -  Early 19th century

Pole club, bowai  -  Fiji  -  18th or early 19th century

Six stone-headed clubs  -  New Guinea  -  19th century

Beaded belt  -  Zulu, South Africa  -  Late 19th or early 20th century

Beaded apron, inkciyo  -  Thembu or Mfengu, South Africa  -  Late 19th or early 20th century  

Beaded tobacco bag  -  Xhosa, South Africa  -  Early 20th century

Images ©James Worrell & Jacaranda Tribal 2015

www.jacarandatribal.com

Tribal Art Sale at Lempertz

Lempertz will present a sale of fine tribal art and artifacts in Brussels on June 12. Highlighting a wide variety of figural sculpture from central and western Africa, the lots will also include a selection of carvings from Papua New Guinea.

For more information, view the online catalogue.

Yoruba bell  -  Nigeria

Punu mask  -  Gabon

Bambara mask  -  Mali

Suku mask  -  D.R. Congo

Nuna or Bwa mask  -  Burkina Faso

Nuna mask  -  Burkina Faso

Images courtesy of Lempertz