And there are those who live with objects for a long time before letting them go.
Not long ago, an anthropologist came to see a Dogon figure.
He didn’t come alone.
He came with his wife, and they spent time with the piece — quietly, without deciding.
Nothing happened that day.
Which, in hindsight, was already meaningful.
Two weeks later, he returned.
This time, not to negotiate.
But with a different kind of proposal.
He was ready to let go of pieces he had lived with for years, in order to take one with him.
An anthropologist looks differently.
Not in terms of categories or completeness.
But in terms of use.
How an object has been handled. Returned to. Integrated into a life.
And over time, that changes what is kept.
The group that came from this exchange was not assembled.
It had already taken shape, slowly, over years.
African, but not only African.
Objects that lived alongside Oceanic works, Pre-Columbian pieces, and traces of archaeology.
Not separated, but understood in relation.
That kind of collecting leaves marks.
Not always visible at first.
But present in the surface. In the choices. In what was not discarded.
Some pieces reveal themselves immediately.
Others take longer.
Those are often the ones that remain.
Looking back, the exchange was simple.
Not a transaction.
But a moment where two ways of seeing aligned — just long enough for objects to change hands.
Below are some of the pieces that came from that moment. (click on the images to enlarge)
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Mossi Mossi figure — ex New York collection, Bonhams New York Mossi — a bit older than usual with a balance that doesn’t need explanation. Height 47 cm
Boki Boki figure — ex Ursula Heijs Voorhuis collection Boki — strong hands the rest follows slowly. Height 38 cm
Boki Boki figure — ex Ursula Heijs Voorhuis collection Boki — strong hands the rest follows slowly. Height 38 cm
Boki Boki figure — ex Ursula Heijs Voorhuis collection Boki — strong hands the rest follows slowly. Height 38 cm
Boki Boki figure — ex Ursula Heijs Voorhuis collection Boki — strong hands the rest follows slowly. Height 38 cm
Boki Boki figure — ex Ursula Heijs Voorhuis collection Boki — strong hands the rest follows slowly. Height 38 cm
Dan mask Dan mask — French collection, later Netherlands Dan — almost dreaming not fully awake. Height 22 cm (32 cm on stand)
Dan mask Dan mask — French collection, later Netherlands Dan — almost dreaming not fully awake. Height 22 cm (32 cm on stand)
Dan mask Dan mask — French collection, later Netherlands Dan — almost dreaming not fully awake. Height 22 cm (32 cm on stand)
Dan mask Dan mask — French collection, later Netherlands Dan — almost dreaming not fully awake. Height 22 cm (32 cm on stand)
Dan mask Dan mask — French collection, later Netherlands Dan — almost dreaming not fully awake. Height 22 cm (32 cm on stand)
Dan divination figure Dan divination figure — French collection Dan — a form that calls the spirits the forest still responds. Height 35 cm
Dan divination figure Dan divination figure — French collection Dan — a form that calls the spirits the forest still responds. Height 35 cm
Dan divination figure Dan divination figure — French collection Dan — a form that calls the spirits the forest still responds. Height 35 cm
Dan divination figure Dan divination figure — French collection Dan — a form that calls the spirits the forest still responds. Height 35 cm
Dan divination figure Dan divination figure — French collection Dan — a form that calls the spirits the forest still responds. Height 35 cm
Igbo (Ikenga) Igbo figure (Ikenga) — collection Nancy & John Hyde DeVoe, New York (1950s–70s) Igbo — Ikenga a figure of strength, held over time — and across the ocean. Height 57 cm
Igbo (Ikenga) Igbo figure (Ikenga) — collection Nancy & John Hyde DeVoe, New York (1950s–70s) Igbo — Ikenga a figure of strength, held over time — and across the ocean. Height 57 cm
Igbo (Ikenga) Igbo figure (Ikenga) — collection Nancy & John Hyde DeVoe, New York (1950s–70s) Igbo — Ikenga a figure of strength, held over time — and across the ocean. Height 57 cm
Igbo (Ikenga) Igbo figure (Ikenga) — collection Nancy & John Hyde DeVoe, New York (1950s–70s) Igbo — Ikenga a figure of strength, held over time — and across the ocean. Height 57 cm
Ibibio Ibibio panel — Danish collection Ibibio — quiet construction with a presence that builds slowly. Height 27 cm
Ibibio Ibibio panel — Danish collection Ibibio — quiet construction with a presence that builds slowly. Height 27 cm
Pende Pende mask — ex Hans Schoute, The Hague Pende — light in appearance but not without structure. Height 23 cm
Pende Pende mask — ex Hans Schoute, The Hague Pende — light in appearance but not without structure. Height 23 cm
If one of these speaks to you, feel free to get in touch.
I’ll be happy to share more images, provenance, or details.
Chibinda Ilunga figure, Chokwe, Angola — Museum RietbergThis article is based on a recent newsletter I sent to collectors.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that most collectors are not lacking interest — they are lacking orientation.
Where do you look?
What do you trust?
And how do you train your eye?
In this guide, I share three practical directions that I personally use — and that can quietly transform the way you see African art.
1. Train Your Eye: Use Museum Collections
If there is one habit I would recommend to any collector, it is this: spend time with museum collections.
Not only in person — but also online.
Today, many major institutions offer access to thousands of documented objects. You can study proportions, surfaces, patina, and even small details that rarely appear in books.
In the guide below, you’ll find direct and active links to museum databases, along with a selection of objects that I personally find particularly interesting.
Over time, something shifts — you begin to recognise what feels right… and what doesn’t.
Collector insight:
The more time you spend with strong, documented objects, the more confident your decisions become when a good piece appears.
2. Understand What You Are Really Looking At
One of the most common mistakes I see is confusion between authentic objects and decorative pieces.
The difference is not always obvious — especially at the beginning.
But authentic objects tend to have a certain internal coherence:
the proportions make sense, the wear follows use, the surface has depth, and the object carries a presence that is difficult to imitate.
In the article below, I explain how I approach this distinction in practice:
Collector insight:
Once you have seen enough authentic pieces, decorative ones start to feel strangely empty — even when they look convincing at first glance.
While writing this, I was reminded of a mask I have kept in the collection for some time — an Ibibio “Chanel” mask.
At first glance, it may seem unusual or even playful. But if you take a closer look, you begin to see the coherence in the carving, the balance in the proportions, and the way the surface has evolved through handling and use.
It is also a good example of how African artists could absorb and reinterpret external influences, while remaining rooted in their own visual language.
This is exactly the kind of object where experience matters — not because it is obvious, but because it reveals itself over time.
African art is often simplified — sometimes too much.
Certain names are used so loosely that they can become misleading.
Take the Kuba, for example.
Behind this single label lies a complex network of workshops, styles, and neighbouring cultures. Not everything labelled “Kuba” is what you might expect — and understanding that can completely change how you evaluate an object.
In the article, I also touch on the figure traditionally associated with the founding of the Kuba Kingdom, and why that history still matters when looking at objects today.
If you want to look beyond the label and discover the story behind it:
This guide for collectors and enthusiasts reflects how I personally use museum collections as a collector and dealer to evaluate and understand African art.
It is illustrated with a selection of objects that have particularly caught my eye.
Over the years, many collectors have asked me how to distinguish genuine African art from purely decorative pieces.
In essence, it comes down to recognition — building a visual memory by studying important collections, well-curated auctions, and fairs where you can see, touch, and even smell the objects.
But above all, it comes from visiting museums.
Below is a selection of museums with significant African holdings. Some are well known, others less so, but all are worth exploring. Whenever possible, I include direct links to the online collections, which are extremely valuable for research and comparison, as well as interesting references to historical photographs taken in situ.
The Metropolitan Museum houses one of the most important African art collections in the world. The recently reinstalled Michael C. Rockefeller Wing presents masterpieces from West and Central Africa including Fang reliquary figures, Yoruba sculpture and Kongo power figures. The Met’s digital collection is one of the most powerful research tools available to collectors.
The Quai Branly holds one of the largest collections of African art in Europe, with tens of thousands of objects. Its digital catalogue allows detailed searches across cultures, regions and materials.
The British Museum’s African collections include archaeological objects, sculpture, textiles and royal regalia. Particularly famous are the Benin bronzes, which continue to play an important role in discussions about cultural heritage and restitution.
In the Chokwe country-side A village [graphic] :Photo: Gorlia around 1910
Part of the Smithsonian Institution, this museum is entirely dedicated to African art. Its collection includes both traditional sculpture and modern works.
Baltimore Art Museum BMA
A spectacular early male Kifwebe mask 1984 gift of Robert and Nancy Nooter, Washington, D.C.
One of the most important collections of African art in the United States, the BMA’s African art collection features works from more than 200 African cultures in a full range of media.
Located near Brussels, this museum holds one of the most extensive collections of Central African objects anywhere in the world, including masks, sculptures, textiles and ritual objects from the Congo basin. It is also used by everyone having an interest in the old colony of Congo resources, and is today also actively working with the diaspora
Luba stool Collections online. Given in 1911 to the Pitt Rivers Museum.
The Pitt Rivers Museum is famous for its unique display style and its enormous ethnographic holdings. The online database provides access to a wide range of African objects collected over the last century.
Formerly known as the National Museum of Ethnology, the Wereldmuseum holds extensive ethnographic collections from Africa gathered during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Museum Rietberg in Zurich is one of the most important museums in Europe devoted to non-European art. Its African collection contains around 2,400 objects, mainly from West and Central Africa, covering more than six centuries of artistic traditions.
Figure of the culture hero Chibinda Ilunga, Workshop of the Chokwe region, Angola, around 1850 Wood, Museum Rietberg, 2007.1, Gift acquired through Novartis
What makes this museum especially valuable, from a collector’s point of view, is its archive related to African art scholarship. One of the most notable is the Hans Himmelheber archive, which contains thousands of field photographs, films and documents related to African artists and workshops.
Nigeria’s national museum preserves important archaeological and cultural treasures including Nok terracottas and Yoruba sculptures. It plays a key role in preserving and studying Nigerian cultural heritage.
A museum about Yoruba art, traditions and masquerades. https://www.jrandlecentre.com
Lagos Island, Lagos 102273, Lagos. +234 807 891 8190. museum@jrandlecentre.com
AI Overview
The
National Museum of Lubumbashi (Musée national de Lubumbashi) is located at 750 Avenue du Musée, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is known for its extensive collection of ethnographic, archaeological, and contemporary art, housed in a distinctive building designed by Claude Strebelle
Africa itself holds many more important museums and collections — far more than can be listed here.
Lesser-Known Museums with Valuable African Collections
Many collectors are familiar with the large institutions in Paris, London or New York, but a number of other museums also hold remarkable African objects and sometimes provide excellent online access.
For collectors and researchers, smaller museum databases often contain fascinating objects that rarely appear in publications. They can help identify regional styles, compare carving traditions, and sometimes reveal historical provenance information.
These institutions are often overlooked but can be extremely useful for research and comparison. Exploring these lesser-known collections can lead to surprising discoveries and a deeper appreciation of African artistic traditions.
Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) — Antwerp
Being based in Antwerp myself, I enjoy browsing the MAS collection regularly. It sometimes reveals objects connected to Belgium’s early collecting history and the long relationship between Antwerp and Central Africa.
This Luba bowl entered the Mas collection of African Art in 1958. The bowl was filled with white clay and other objects of power.
The MAS museum in Antwerp has made its entire collection accessible online. More than 600,000 objects can be searched through the database, including African masks, sculptures and ethnographic material.
One particularly interesting aspect of the MAS database is that it includes not only objects currently on display but also those kept in storage.
Ofika Mbole Mas Museum Henry Pareyn
You can search in the database for the objects from Henry (Henri) Pareyn wo started collecting and dealing in African art (mostly from the Belgian Congo) in the 1890s.
Based in Antwerp, he amassed huge collections. Two major sales took place during his lifetime: in around 1910 and notably, in 1920 when the City of Antwerp purchased 1600 ‘Congo objects of all kinds’ which formed the basis of the Antwerp Ethnography Museum’s Central African collections. After his death in 1928, his widow offered his entire collection to the City of Antwerp for 350,000 Belgian Francs. This offer was declined and the collection was put up for auction at the Grand Hotel, Antwerp in 10-15 December 1928.
This 5 day auction with almost 2,000 lots raised 2,000,000 Belgian Francs. Many of the lots were sold to external buyers, among them Sir Henry Wellcome (from whom much came to the BM). See Waterfield & King p.71 for a rumour that an English dealer had bought half the sale for Sir Henry Wellcome. The lot numbers of items in the Pareyn sale were written in ink on a white paper disc that was pasted to the front of the object; this enables many of Wellcome’s purc hases from the Pareyn sale to be recognised, like also Henry Pareyn in the Fowler museum.
Portugal’s National Museum of Ethnology holds important collections from Africa, especially from former Portuguese territories such as Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. The museum preserves valuable documentation of traditional cultures and colonial collecting history.
Museum of the Lisbon Geographical Society — Lisbon
This museum is rarely mentioned in discussions of African art but and can only be visited by appointment, but it contains remarkable historical collections gathered during Portuguese exploration and colonial expeditions. Among the highlights are impressive Congo and Chokwe materpieces objects . The museum of the Lisbon Geographical Society is one of the best-kept secrets in Lisbon. It inherited its collection from what was once the “Colonial Museum” and assumed an ethnographic focus from early on. It grew through a campaign of acquisitions and the donations of collectors and travellers who accompanied the Portuguese outposts in the former empire. Discover ceramics, sculptures, furniture, paintings, fabrics, glass, tiles and even scientific instruments from the most disparate of sources: Angola, Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Timor and Macau. A unique exhibition, which brings together art and scientific/everyday objects and which shows the habits and depictions of distant lands. Be a 21st-century explorer and travel in time at this 19th-century society.
Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, 100, 1150-269, Lisboa
The Minneapolis Institute of Art has developed one of the strongest African art collections in the United States. The museum is known for carefully selected masterpieces and scholarly exhibitions devoted to African sculpture.
The Fowler Museum is highly respected among scholars of African and Oceanic art. Its digital database includes many objects from Africa some also from Henry Pareyn and often provides good photographic documentation.
I remember that I got a wonderfull and instructive private viewing from the curator during an exhibition they did in Paris in collaboratin with the Quai Branly Museum about the Lega objects from the Jay Last collection.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (de Young Museum)
Luba artist, Figure, 19th century, Democratic Republic of Congo. Wood, metal, and fiber, 10 1/4 x 2 x 1 7/8 in. (26 x 5.1 x 4.8 cm). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of Richard Scheller, 2019.1 A Luba Figure: An Expression of Ideals of Beauty and a Locus for Memory
The de Young Museum holds a significant African art collection, particularly strong in West African sculpture. Its digital catalogue allows visitors to explore objects from many regions of the continent.
The Horniman Museum has an important ethnographic collection that includes African masks, musical instruments and ritual objects collected during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Need to discover more African Art museums around the World ?
The Yale archives include the Van Rijn Archive up to 2012 for free and the Ross Archive, which contain historical photographs before 1920’s, field documentation and research material related to African art collecting and scholarship. These archives are widely used by researchers.
8.990 items images from before 1921 from the Ross Archives
The AHDRC is one of the most important digital research platforms dedicated to African art. The archive contains thousands of historical photographs, field documentation and publications, and allows also to get access to the price history and exhibitions and publications the objects where in and has a good search engine.
Access is subscription-based (approximately €250 per year) and the platform is widely used by professional researchers, dealers and scholars.
To get a taste, on Jstor you can access for free the database updated till 2012, and search among 111.580 items
Artkhade provides a digital platform for cataloguing artworks at auctions and collections and is used by museums, galleries and collectors to manage documentation and provenance information. It is increasingly used within the professional art world for price setting.
Why Museum Databases Matter for Collectors
Museum collections remain one of the most valuable resources for anyone interested in African art. They allow collectors to:
compare objects with documented museum examples
study regional styles and carving traditions
explore historical provenance information
examine high-quality photographs of important works
Many museums now provide high-definition images, and some allow images to be used for scholarly or educational purposes. These digital collections have become an essential tool for collectors, researchers and enthusiasts who wish to deepen their understanding of African sculpture.
Even after many years working with African art, I still find museum collections — both in person and online — an endless source of discovery. If you know other museum databases with strong African art collections, feel free to let me know. I am always interested in discovering new resources.
And if this article has made you curious to go further, you can explore a selection of African masks and figures — each chosen through the same eye I’ve developed over 30 years of looking:
Following the publication of this guide, several collectors kindly shared additional museums worth exploring. Many of these are less frequently discussed but can offer valuable insights for collectors and researchers.
The AMNH holds one of the most important ethnographic collections in the world, including a celebrated Mangbetu collection and extensive photographic archives.
👉 Particularly valuable for historical field documentation and early collecting context.
🇩🇪 Germany
Germany holds some of the most important ethnographic collections in Europe.
One of Italy’s most important ethnographic museums, with significant African collections.
👉 Particularly relevant for colonial-era collecting and documentation.
Final Note
These additional museums confirm something I have learned over the years: good objects are not only found in the major institutions.
Often, it is in lesser-known collections that you begin to recognise subtleties — variations in style, unusual forms, or objects that have not yet been widely published. For a collector, this is where the eye sharpens.
If you have the opportunity, I would encourage you to visit some of these museums, explore beyond the obvious, and, whenever possible, meet local collectors along the way.
And if your travels lead you to interesting discoveries — whether in museums or private collections — I would be very interested to hear from you. Exchanges between collectors are often where the most meaningful pieces change hands.
I am always open to discussing objects, helping to place important pieces, or simply sharing thoughts about what you have seen.
Traditional African art is one of the most powerful artistic traditions in the world. Across hundreds of cultures and thousands of communities, artists created masks, sculptures, and ritual objects that served social, spiritual, and political purposes.
Unlike modern decorative art, authentic African art was created to function inside living traditions. Masks danced in ceremonies, figures protected villages, and ritual objects mediated between the living and the ancestors.
For collectors today, these objects offer something rare: a chance to hold a piece of cultural history shaped by belief, ritual, and time.
For more than 30 years, I have helped collectors discover authentic traditional African art through my gallery in Antwerp and through my website:
This rare helmet mask from the Bena Biombo people of the Congo features distinctive chameleon-like eyes symbolizing transformation and adaptability. Masks like this were used during royal funerary ceremonies and masquerades that connected the living community with ancestral spirits. ‘read also the article about the Kuba tribe since they are not what you think.
Other masks currently available include:
Ibibio “Chanel” mask. This striking Ibibio mask originates from the Ekpo secret society of Nigeria, a powerful institution that maintained social order through fear and ancestral … https://buyafricanantiques.com/product/ibibio-chanel-mask/
This impressive sculpture represents the ancestral couple of the Lobi clan and was traditionally placed in shrine spaces where it protected the community and embodied ancestral authority.
Another fascinating example of Lobi artistic tradition is this iron sculpture:
Hand-hammered by a Lobi blacksmith, the bird represents the remarkable metalworking skills of West African artisans and reflects the symbolic role animals play in African cosmology.
Other sculptural objects currently available include:
Each object carries its own cultural narrative and history of use.
The Materials of African Tribal Art
African artists worked with a wide range of materials depending on regional traditions and available resources.
Art form
Typical materials
Cultural role
Masks
Wood, pigments, raffia
Ritual dances and masquerades
Figures
Wood, iron, terracotta
Ancestors, protective spirits
Metal objects
Iron, bronze, brass
Prestige objects and ritual implements
Dolls and figures
Wood and beads
Fertility and spiritual symbolism
These materials were rarely chosen for decoration alone. They were selected for their symbolic meaning and ritual function.
How African Art Influenced Modern Art
When European artists encountered African masks and sculptures in the early twentieth century, the impact was profound.
Artists such as Picasso and Modiglianiwere inspired by the bold geometry, stylized faces, and expressive power of African sculpture. These encounters helped shape movements such as Cubism and modernism.
But what fascinated these artists was not merely style.
It was the realization that in African cultures art was inseparable from life, ritual, and belief.
Collecting Authentic African Art Today
Today, the biggest challenge for collectors is distinguishing authentic traditional objects from decorative reproductions.
Many pieces offered online were made for the tourist market and were never used in African communities.
Recognizing genuine objects requires experience:
knowledge of carving traditions
understanding of surface and patina
familiarity with ritual use and cultural context
After more than three decades working with African art, I still find that the most reliable guide is simply this:
having seen thousands of objects over many years.
That experience shapes the selection you see on my website.
Explore Authentic African Masks and Sculptures
If you would like to explore authentic African art currently available, you can browse the collection here:
Most people think they understand what “Kuba” means.
A tribe. A style. A familiar category.
But that’s usually where the misunderstanding begins.
What we call the Kuba is not a single people in the usual sense. It is a kingdom — or more precisely, the result of one. Nearly twenty different groups, brought together and held within a structure that did not exist before. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuba_Kingdom)
And that structure still shows in the objects.
If you spend enough time with Kuba work, you begin to notice something subtle. Even when a surface feels playful, even when a pattern seems to wander, there is always a sense that it could not have been otherwise.
That feeling has a beginning.
In the early 17th century, this was not yet a kingdom. It was a region of separate groups, without a real center. Then a man appeared — or returned, depending on the version of the story.
His name was Shyaam a-Mbul a Ngoong. He ruled circa 1625-1640) and is remembered as the founder of Kuba civilisation, but not because he simply took power. What he did was more interesting than that. He reorganized what existed. He introduced titles, created a court, and brought different groups into a single system. (https://encyclopaediaafricana.com/shyaam-ambul-angoong/)
Some accounts describe him as an outsider, even someone who had to disguise himself and move carefully before taking control. Others emphasize that he travelled, learned from other kingdoms, and returned with knowledge that allowed him to reshape the region. (Encyclopaedia Africana)
Either way, the result is clear.
What had been a collection of communities became something ordered. A court. A system with roles, hierarchy, and continuity.
And once that exists, everything changes. Because art is than no longer just made as such. It takes its place in the society.
At the Kuba court, objects are tied to position and recognition. Surfaces are not simply decorated — they are worked, built, adjusted, until they sit exactly where they need to be.
The masks are made to welcome people from neighboring tribes and tell the stories from the Kuba.
Even the textiles, which at first glance feel free, are the result of collaboration and control. The woven base and the embroidered surface come together slowly, within a shared understanding of pattern and variation.
You begin to see that what looks spontaneous is often deeply informed.
About the Masks
The masks belong to this same world, but they move within it differently.
At the Kuba court itself, masks are part of performance. They appear in dances that tell stories about origin, power, and legitimacy. They are not simply representations of spirits — they stage relationships.
But as you move outward, into related groups, the tone shifts.
The Lele, the Bena Biombo, and others remain connected to this broader cultural field, yet they resolve it in their own way. The forms are familiar — helmet structures, raffia, strong volumes — but the balance changes.
Some feel more restrained. Others more direct.
And that is where things become interesting.
Because you are no longer looking at a single style, but at a language spoken differently across neighboring groups.
This mask here
Helmet Mask, 20th Century Bena Biombo people Bowers Museum.
It sits slightly away from the Kuba court, but not outside its influence.
You can still feel the shared structure — the controlled surface, the clarity of form, the sense that nothing is arbitrary. But the expression is different. More direct. Less mediated by courtly layering.
There is a kind of decisiveness in it.
And when you place it next to a Kuba helmet mask, or even a Lele example, what becomes visible is not similarity or difference alone, but a relationship.
A movement away from the center, without losing it entirely.
In the end, the Kuba ask for a different way of looking.
Not as a tribe, but as a court.
Not as something improvised, but something constructed.
And never as fixed as it first seems.
Because if you follow it back far enough, you arrive at a moment where someone made a decision — to bring order, to define roles, to create a center.
And what you are looking at now is not just the object.
It is the result of that decision, carried forward.
A short tale inspired by the Yoruba tradition of the horse rider — a symbol of leadership, prestige and authority in West African art.
Photo collage: Yoruba horseman in the Osun Sacred Grove, Arch of the Flying Tortoise.
Landscape photograph by Adolphus Opara. Horseman sculpture photographed by David Norden.
A long time ago, when the kingdoms of the Yoruba were young, the people said that a great rider sometimes appeared at the edge of the town.
No one knew exactly where he came from.
At dawn he would emerge from the red earth roads, seated proudly on his horse, holding a lance that caught the first light of the rising sun. Children would run to the paths to see him pass, while the elders watched in silence.
Some said he was a warrior returning from distant lands. Others whispered that he was a messenger of the gods.
In those days horses were rare in the forest regions of southern Nigeria. They came from the northern savannas and were precious animals, associated with kings, chiefs and powerful warriors. To ride a horse was to show authority and prestige.
Over time the image of the mounted rider became one of the most powerful symbols in Yoruba art. Sculptors carved figures known as elesin—horsemen who embodied leadership, courage and the ability to command.
The rider was often larger than the horse, because Yoruba artists did not aim for realism. Importance was expressed through proportion. The horse carried the rider, but the rider carried the meaning.
Some of these figures were placed in shrines or royal spaces. Others commemorated great leaders or ancestors whose presence was believed to protect the community.
Scholars have long noted the importance of this imagery in Yoruba culture. A beautiful example in ivory from the Dallas Museum of Art illustrates how deeply rooted the motif of the mounted rider is in the region:
Even earlier, archaeological discoveries such as a tenth-century bronze object from Igbo-Ukwu showing a horse and rider remind us that equestrian symbolism has deep historical roots in southern Nigeria. You can see this remarkable object, once exhibited in the Smithsonian exhibition Caravans of Gold, here:
The door opens, and they pause — just long enough to understand that this is not a normal shop.
There are many objects. Faces, figures, quiet presences watching from shelves and walls. Some visitors step back for a moment, unsure where to look first.
I usually let that moment breathe.
Then I say, softly:
“Take your time… I live with these pieces. Some of them have stayed with me for many years.”
Something changes when they hear that.
The space becomes less a shop, more a world.
The First Question
When the visitor begins to relax, I ask my usual question:
“What brings you into my shop?”
Sometimes the answer is simple curiosity. Sometimes they have walked past many times before daring to enter. Sometimes they already know a little — enough to feel drawn toward something they cannot yet name.
I listen more than I speak.
After many years, you learn that people reveal themselves in the way they look — not only in what they say.
The Moment of Recognition
Almost always, there is one moment.
The visitor slows down in front of a piece. The rest of the room disappears for them.
I don’t rush forward with explanations.
Instead I might say:
“Yes… that one has a quiet presence.”
And then we look together.
Sometimes they ask questions. Sometimes they simply stand there, surprised by their own reaction.
This is often where a real collection begins — not with knowledge, but with recognition.
A Cabinet Curated by an Experienced Eye
My shop is small.
It is not minimal, not empty, not staged like a gallery. It is a cabinet — a space where objects live together, where I am surrounded by forms I have chosen over more than thirty years.
Some people find it overwhelming at first.
But many tell me later that they feel something rare here: that the objects are not displayed to impress, but to be lived with.
And perhaps that is true.
I do not think of myself only as a dealer.
I am someone who has spent a lifetime learning to see — and occasionally letting a piece leave when it finds the right person.
Leaving the Shop
Often visitors leave without buying anything.
But they leave differently than they entered.
They look again at the room before the door closes — as if memorising a feeling.
And sometimes, days or weeks later, they return.
Because once you have really looked at something — truly seen it — it has a way of calling you back.
