Le Monde Covers Parcours des Mondes 2015

This year's upcoming edition of Parcours des Mondes was the subject of a June article in Le Monde. Examining the growth and popularity of the event and the tribal art market at large, the piece featured Jacaranda amid a group of distinguished international tribal art dealers and led with a highlight of a gorgeous Tsonga headrest in our collection. 

"Quant aux prix glanés dans les différentes galeries, ils varient selon la rareté, la traçabilité, l’état de l’objet. Ainsi, Roger Bourahimou vend ses pièces « rares et atypiques d’Afrique centrale » entre 1 500 et 200 000 euros. Chez Dori et Daniel Rootenberg de la galerie Jacaranda, basée à New-York et spécialisée dans l'art d'Afrique du Sud, cet appui-tête tsonga est à 5 500 euros et ce rare knobkerrie (bâton) avec un conteneur de tabac à priser à 20 000 euros."

Read the article in French here.

Headrest  -  Tsonga, South Africa  -  Late 19th or early 20th century

Tsonga Neckrest - South Africa

The above images depict a rare Tsonga neckrest with carrying handle in the form of a dance staff, the handle of which terminates in an elegant disk-shaped finial often found on North Nguni staffs. The gently curving handle is perfectly carved to allow the end of the handle to rest on the floor surface. South African neckrests with carrying handles are particularly rare.

Carved on the surface of the horizontal support are five parallel rows of fine dots carved in relief. These dots would have formed indentations in the face of the male sleeper, reminiscent of the scarification patterns on North Nguni women. These temporary facial patterns were said to be the source of much amusement.

JacarandaTribal.com

L'Afrique au Quotidien : The Meynet Collection

In the year 2000, the Musée des Confluences in Lyon received an important donation of African objects on behalf of Michel and Denise Meynet, collectors driven by a passion to acquire objects which speak volumes about their cultures of origin. L'Afrique au quotidien, currently being presented by the MdC, invites visitors to experience the quality, diversity, and richness of an assemblage formed over the period of a decade. One of the foremost characteristics of the Meynet Collection is its focus on utilitarian objects––pieces which would normally be destroyed or discarded after a period of use. Animated by the desire to comprehend and exalt these objects, the Meynets have done their utmost to provide important documentation for most of the objects on display. L'Afrique au quotidien will be on view through March 3.

Incised gourd

Ethiopia

Headrest

Ethiopia

 

Beaded apron

Cameroon

Stool

Ghana

Images courtesy of the Musée des Confluences/P. Ageneau

Dan Chair, Xhosa Pipes, Bena Lulua Headrest Profiles

For the next several weeks, we will be profiling specific pieces from the Marc & Denyse Ginzberg collection available at Jacaranda Tribal Art Gallery. A complete selection, including pictures and descruptions, of our exhibition of the collection can be seen at our website www.JacarandaTribal.com.

Dan, Mano or Guere Chair from Liberia. Chairs like this fine example were utilized by their owner not only as private and personal objects but also as status markers and prestige objects for tribal chiefs. Dr J.H. Furbay, President of the College of West Africa in Monrovia, Liberia, from 1936 to 1938, reported that a chair was always carried by a chief’s attendant because it was believed that a Chief without his chair was without his dignity. In addition to the fine carving, this object has a distinctly fine patina obtained from years of valued use. As with all of the objects in the Ginzberg Collection, this chair is an exceptionally fine example of a late 19^th century or early 20^th century chair from the region.

Xhosa or South Nguni Pipes from South Africa. Pipes of all forms, shapes and materials have been used by people and tribes of Southern African for centuries. Africans used pipes in religious rites and other ceremonies, and more commonly for practical purposes. Many individuals in a tribe owned and used pipes as smoking was practiced by people of all ages and genders. Especially fine objects were seen as status markers or prestige objects for highly respected members of a tribe. These pipes, from the Ginzberg collection, are particularly interesting because they have a distinct European influence in their design while retaining clear local innovation and techniques. The intricate designs and motifs in these pipes were carved by master African artisans who then filled the groves with molten pewter lead.

Bena Lulua or Luba Headrest from Congo. In many African cultures, small wooden "pillows" were used to support the head during sleep and in some instances to preserve a hairstyle. The Ginzberg collection has many exceptionally fine examples, several of which are on display on our website. This fine example from the Congo boasts satisfying proportions and distinctly geometric and nonfigurative carving. In addition, the object has a deep red patina from decades of use.

We will be profiling additional objects in the coming weeks. Make sure to check back again.

African Dream Machines - A Book Review

I recently received a copy of the soft cover book African Dream Machines: Style, Identity and Meaning of African Headrests. The book was written by Anitra Nettleton, a professor of the Wits School of Art in Johannesburg and the author of many influential books on the material culture of southern Africa.

Below is an excerpt from the press release:

African headrests have been moved out of the category of functional objects and into the more rarefied category of ‘art’ objects. Styles in African headrests are usually defined in terms of western art and archaeological discourses, but this book interrogates these definitions of style through a case study of headrests of the ‘Tellem’ of Mali, and demonstrates the shortcomings of defining a single formal style model as exclusive to a single ethnic group.

African Dream Machines questions the assumed one-to-one relationship between formal styles and ethnic identities or classifications by tracing the distribution of a single formal headrest type – those with a single column support and round, conical base. The notion of ‘authenticity’ as a fixed value in relation to African art is de-stabilised, while historical factors are used to demonstrate that ‘authenticity’, in the form sought by collectors of antique African art, is largely a construct, which has no basis in historical reality. The final chapter seeks to understand the significance of African headrests in relation to a number of different perspectives: the western fascination with the headrest as a synecdoche for “otherness”; their iconography in terms of subject matter (human and animal figures); and the ways in which headrests are used as support to the head of a sleeping person.

The book is published by the University of the Witwatersrand Press . It is available now in the U.S. at Transaction Publications and will be available in March, 2008 at Amazon.com

Daniel Rootenberg
JacarandaTribal.com