Textiles, Adornment & Personal Objects

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This large and beautiful cloth was created by its design being applied in cassava starch paste to sewn together bolts of damask cotton. The damask has its own, integral floral pattern in spaced bands of white on white thread. One of these bands is evident in the blue "shadow" passing through one of the four-petal elements in the middle of the fabric. Adire cloths come in a wide variety of time honored patterns among the most popular of which is the "jubilee" of which this cloth is a classic example. According to Duncan Clark (adireafricantextiles.com) the jubilee design made its debut in 1935 in honor of the anniversary of colonial Britain's George V and Queen Mary. This pattern was still in production in the 1960s and 70s. Today adire cloths are no longer produced in Nigeria and have become very hard to find. Price and dimensions on request.

« Inquire About This Item » Throughout Africa traditional crowns and headgear employ feathers as integral decorative elements. Colorful, lightweight, and readily available, feathers are the perfect material to give scale, animation, and drama to hats and wigs. In this crown, worn by Tikar palace dancers in association with the beaded textile elephant masks, the tail feathers of the African grey parrot are arrayed at the tips of scores of cloth-encased reeds to command attention. There is absolutely no augmentation with dyed feathers. A single black feather from a standard-winged nightjar graces the center of the hat. It is an unusual feature not found in most such headdresses and is among the details that make this the most exceptional example of this type of crown I have seen. The crown collapses upon itself for storage with the tug of a leather loop in the center of the bottom woven-fiber portion of the headdress. 26" diameter. Price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3	« Inquire About This Item » This blouse is embroidered on stitched-together strips of indigenous Wodabe indigo-dyed cotton, plus two strips of striped Hausa trade cloth. All embroidery, stitching, and weaving is by hand with the exception of the ticking on the collar and hem, which are imported bleached material. Wodabe looms were traditionally very narrow, producing gauzy strips about 3 cm wide. This small blouse, 9" across and 12" long, would have been made to fit a young girl, 8 to 10 years old. It was collected by Boubacar Doubou in the late 1980s. It dates from the 1970s or before. The colors are strong, natural, and harmonious. The embroidery is of the highest quality, displaying a variety of traditional designs associated with the Gerewol Festival. The quality of Wodabe embroidery is steadily declining. More recent works are less finely stitched, less orderly, and sparser in detail. Dyed trade cloth is replacing the traditional backing of assembled hand loom strips. The decline can readily be seen by comparing field photographs of the Gerewol Festival shot in the 1970s, 1980s, and since 2000. Unmounted. $900.	« Inquire About This Item » Wooden sandals were in use in East Africa throughout the 20th century. With the introduction of mass market footwear and the ubiquitous rubber thong, their popularity went into swift decline. This pair dates from before 1950 and, quite possibly, as early as 1910. The toe pegs with their onion-shaped finials are typical for Gogo sandals and show a strong Indo-Arab influence. Across the Indian Ocean, strikingly similar footwear was worn in Orissa. Pyro decoration is common in East and Southern African art. Here, the outer edge of the sandal has been outlined in this way with a circle inscribed in the middle. The design is bold and unusual. This pair would look great hung on a wall. 9" long, each. $700.	« Inquire About This Item » Up until the beginning of the last century the wearing of goatskins by both men and women was widespread in rural Kenya. Over time fashions and materials evolved. What distinguished the diverse tribes was not so much the type of garment but the means of adornment, the colors chosen and the patterns employed. The Kamba were renowned for their wide and precisely patterned aprons dominated by small white beads. The use of chain and coins was widespread. The pennies adorning this fine example are from British East Africa and date from the 1920s through the mid 1950s. 7" high x 11.5" wide. Glass beads, cotton yarn, sisal, copper alloy chain, and vintage coins. Price on request.	« Inquire About This Item » This flamboyant crown is made from the pelt of the eastern highland guereza colobus monkey, cow hide, and cowrie shells. Colobus fur is prized by many Central and East African people for its flowing length and for its striking black and white contrasts. (The monkey is common and its meat is considered a delicacy.) The Nyaturu live in Singida District in the center of Tanzania. 6" wide, on a custom wood base. Price upon request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3
« Inquire About This Item » Up until the beginning of the last century the wearing of goatskins by both men and women was widespread in Kenya. What distinguished the diverse tribes was not so much the type of garment but the means of adornment, the colors chosen and the patterns and combinations of beadwork. The Kamba were renowned for their wide and precisely patterned aprons dominated by small white beads and the use of trade chain and coins. The pennies employed in this fine example are from British East Africa and date from the 1920s up through the mid 1950s. 11.45" x 14" long in Price on request « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2	« Inquire About This Item » This beautiful and well worn cache sexe was collected by an American woman while teaching in a village in Nigeria's northeast in the early 60s. The teacher purchased this cache-sexe after having seen a dancer wearing it in a village ceremony. After returning to the United States, she hung it on the wall of her home until her death in 2007. Unfortunately, her executors did not know the name of the village or region where she had resided. 8.5" high x 12" wide. Glass beads, cowrie shells and cotton yarn with some indigenous repair. Price on request.	« Inquire About This Item » A vibrantly colored and well worn cache sexe collected by an American woman while teaching in a village in Nigeria's northeast in the early 60s. The repeat diamond pattern is kept lively with surprising elements and asymmetrical modifications to the design. The teacher purchased this cache-sexe after having seen it danced. After returning to the United States, she hung it on the wall of her home until her death in 2007. Unfortunately, her executors did not know the name of the village or region where she had resided. 9" high x 12" wide. Glass beads, cowrie shells and cotton yarn with some indigenous repair. Price on request.	« Inquire About This Item » This lovely and well used cache sexe was collected by an American woman while teaching in a village in Nigeria's northeast in the early 60s. It is unusual for its petite size, asymmetrical design, beautiful old beads and triangular shape. It purchased this after the teacher witnesses a girl dance with it at a village ceremony. Unfortunately, the name of the village or region where it was collected was not recorded. 6" high x 4.5" wide. Glass beads, time-worn cowrie shells and cotton yarn with indigenous repairs. Price on request.	« Inquire About This Item » A colorful example of a rarely seen headdress from the Mbudu of eastern Congo. The front panel of finely arranged beads is sewn to woven raffia cloth dotted with earth pigments and decorated with the feathers of bush fowl. The headdress is similar to the nkaka of the nearby Tabwa worn by celebrants of the bulumbu cult and to headbands of Luba mbudye diviners, which feature similar triangular motifs. 7" x 5". Price upon request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3
« Inquire About This Item » The West African lute or Ngoni comes in a variety of sizes. This smaller sized instrument is known as the kamale (young man's) ngoni popularized in the 1960s through the evolution of the Wousolou sound. However, this example predates that pop movement. It is similar to the Fulani hoddu, the Tuareg tahardant and other related instruments found across the Sahel. This family of instruments, characterized by a straight neck and a hollow wood or calabash body wrapped in drum-tight goat skin, is thought to be the ancestor of the American banjo. The beautiful old example on offer here no longer has strings but their absence allows us to see it as an expressive face. Considering its age the instrument is in excellent shape. There is some loss to the bindings in one corner of the back side although this in no way does detracts from the overall appearance. Mounted vertically on a custom wood and metal base. $850 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3	« Inquire About This Item » This set is relatively lightweight as the individual bands were made by tightly winding fine wire onto a rod then slipping the resultant coil free and fashioning it end-to-end into a loop with a hollow core. The craftsmanship here is uniformly excellent. The patina shows years of use and exposure. Mounted on a custom base. 12" long; $650. See also Zulu arm rings.	« Inquire About This Item » It seems unfair to call this massive carving a bracelet. It's so large that one edge has been deliberately carved concave to allow it to be worn more comfortably against their wearer's side. The object was discovered some years ago in a collection of Bijogo ceremonial regalia, mostly dance crests. It it adze carved, very dry and bears trays of white pigment. 12" diameter on a custom base. $1200 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3	« Inquire About This Item » This colorful headdress is identical to one illustrated in Paul Gebauer's art of Cameroon page 121. According to the text such crests were carried by messengers on royal errands. The raffia is dyed by boiling it with the extracts of kola nuts. The substructure is crocheted coarse string which when turned inside out ingeniously incases the raffia for safe-keeping much like similar Bamileke hats with plumed superstructures. 17"h x 22"w. $1000 mounted. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2	« Inquire About This Item » A variety of hats and headdresses are worn by Zulu women and traditional ceremonies and gatherings. Circular, flat-topped hats made from a variety of materials including cotton and occasionally human hair are among the best known. Bundles of sweet grass, bush fiber or washed rags are often used to fill the hat out and give it shape. The headdress illustrated here is a rare variation of the flat topped hair hat. The shape and materials are the same: human hair over a circle of recycled cloth, red ochre, animal fat and fiber stuffing. However, the top is pillowed and in profile there are no edges and the sides are convex. 12" diameter. Mounted at a jaunty angle on a custom stand. Price on request « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3
« Inquire About This Item » The felt fez was introduced into Nigeria through trade with the Arab north. Here an natural, undyed fez of Nigerian manufacture has been heavily decorated with cowrie shells. Cowries were recognized early on by humanity of shells of value. They are uniform, can be easily modified for stringing and they have anthropomorphic qualities as they call to mind the human eye and the female sex. For thousands of years cowries were traded around the world. They adorned the wealthy and powerful. They decorated masks and were pasted into the eyes of figurative carvings. In this hat they announce the special status of its wearer as someone linked to history and the mystical power of nature. 8" Price on request « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2	« Inquire About This Item » According to Angela Fisher's fabulous book Africa Adorned Wodabe mothers traditionally give their daughters pairs of such anklets or jabo in order to attract men. Eligible young women (surbaajo) sport two to three pairs of the heavy brass anklets during Wodabe festivals when the nomads gather in sizable numbers. The Wodabe commission the anklets from Hausa craftsmen who incise them with requested designs. It is rare to find even one pair as the anklets are often sold singly by exporters. This pair shows years of use. The bright color of the exterior patina is the result of repeated polishing with water, wet ash and sand. 6" lengths and 5" diameters. Field image by Angela Fisher. Price on request « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 4	« Inquire About This Item » A number of divers ethnic groups cumulatively described as Kirdi live in the rugged mountains of northeast Cameroon. They are farmers who adhere to traditional beliefs, initiating their youth to adulthood and celebrating their harvest with ceremonies and dances. This crown is worn by young women during one such ceremony. In addition to glass trade beads and imported cowrie shells the crown features a line of ersatz lion claws locally fabricated by a blacksmith from raw steel. This is an especially fine and well preserved example of a rare Kirdi head ornament. 8" diameter. Mounted on a custom stand. Price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3	« Inquire About This Item » The Lugbara live in western Uganda, close to the equator. The sun is strong and region experiences frequent downpours during its two rainy seasons. Like most African societies Lugbara women carry their infants on their backs while working in the fields and performing their near constant chores. To protect them from the elements, Lugbara women traditionally covered their infants with woven hoods such as this, tucking the broad flat end into the wrappers that bound their babies tight against them. A different variety of hood also exists without the top-hat finial. These are lighter in color and lack the application of brownish resin that make these hoods particularly water resistant. Neither form have ever been in great supply but the ones with the finial appear to be substantially older. The scoop-like form may be related to rain-gear employed by some groups of forest dwelling pygmies who live in the vicinity: a folding of large fronds that makes a head to waist hood that stays in place through gravity and leaves the hands free. A nearly identical example is illustrated in Marc Ginzberg's "African Forms". 20" long, 10" wide", price on request « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 4	« Inquire About This Item » I have only ever seen one other example of this curious object which I can only imagine must be a doll. It consists of a heavily decorated miniature basketry hood identical in form, weave and material to one of two types of baby covers employed by the Lugbara of western Uganda. It was purchased in a lot with a variety of vintage ethnographic objects readily identifiable as of Ugandan origin. The coins adorning the hood's perimeter identify themselves as British East African pennies of the 1950s. The long strands of beads appear intended to facilitate the carriage of the hood on a girl's back or shoulder. This is not to say that this beautiful piece was merely a toy; it may well have been worn by adolescents during a rite of passage, by adult women hoping to conceive or for any of the many purposes and reasons that dolls were and are employed in traditional African societies. The main part is 7" x 4" with an over all length of 19". Mounted, price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3
« Inquire About This Item » A great variety of fanciful well used pipes were once in wide use among the Tiv of Nigeria. Figurative elements ranged from male sexual imagery to zoomorphic heads, references to firearms and fanciful geometric details all within a basic functional form. This lovely example features a sweetly abstract simian head with steel tack eyes as the masthead to an ergonomic masterpiece of counterbalanced curves, wood and steel elements. The complex geometric carving on the bottom is a bit of a mystery. It is plainly integral to the over all design as its rich patination matches that of the whole, but its meaning is obscure. 14.5" long; custom base. Price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 4	« Inquire About This Item » A great variety of fanciful well used pipes were once in wide use among the Tiv of Nigeria. Figurative elements ranged from male sexual imagery to zoomorphic heads, references to wealth, virility and status and fanciful geometric details all within a basic functional form. Among my favorites was a pipe (sold many years ago) in the form of a rifle. The stem doubled as the rifle's barrel so that in effect the smoker placed gun to mouth with every puff. This is the only example I have found of a pipe celebrating a tortoise- an otherwise frequently encountered symbol in African art for earthbound fortitude, durability and humility. The pipe is also unique in that it is self supporting. Where as most pipes must be held while lit this highly sculptural example can be put down on the ground or on a table and allowed to smolder without any chance of the bowl spilling its contents. Carved from a hard well patinated wood with a wrought iron stem. 14" tall; unmounted. Price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 4	« Inquire About This Item » A wide variety of flutes and whistles were traditionally made across a broad swath of West Africa. They were carried by men to communicate while hunting and to make music, normally in assemblage with other flutes and some combination of drums and other percussion instruments often in conjunction with a dance or ceremony. Nowhere were these instruments as numerous in number, size and form as they were in Burkina Faso. Among the most distinctive of the many styles are those with arms. Here the length of the upper sections on each side have been hollowed out. Hopes at each end can covered by the thumb and forefinger of the grasping hand to create up to three distinct notes. Carved from wood with traces of paint, indigenous repairs and a sensational worn patina. 6.5". Available with custom base. Price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3	« Inquire About This Item » The distinctive shape of traditional Basotho hats are thought to be based on the shape of a mountain, Thaba Tseka, visible from the capital of the landlocked nation. It is such a vital symbol of Basotho identity that is has been incorporated in silhouette into the national flag. This hat is an older example, finely crafted in the time worn tradition. It is somewhat warped from age but far from detracting it adds to it's curvilinear appeal inviting the viewer to see it from all angles. $350, mounted on a custom stand. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 4	« Inquire About This Item » Brass beads made by the Vere and other Cross River people have been traded across the region for centuries along with European glass beads and cowrie shells from the coast. Here brass beads alone are strung on leather. The beads are ancient and the leather is stiff and dry. While the arrangement may well have been worn as a belt I have opted to mount it vertically to maximize its visually impact. First half of the 20th century. Leather, well-worn brass beads and leather. About 12" tall. Price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2
« Inquire About This Item » Tiered hats woven from raffia or other vegetal fiber were worn by Ekonda chiefs on important occasions. Botolo come in a variety of forms with projections that may be horizontal or angle upwards. Some have tiers of equal diameter. Others become smaller each level upwards. Some are coated with plant resins, as in this specimen, while others are left as pure basketry. This example, as is typically but not always the case, is decorated with a losanja (a beaten brass disc denoting prestige). It is additionally enhanced with tufts of animal hair at each temple- a rare detail. This hat was purchased from the great Gambian trader Ba Sillah who guarded it for many years in his Kinshasa compound. Mr. Sillah passed away in the summer of 2011. 12" high, about 17" with mount. Price on request « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 4	« Inquire About This Item » The American Museum of Natural History has three individual sandals(not pairs) acquired in 1910 which match up closely with this pair. Untanned animal hide appears to have been soaked in water, then pressed into a form and dried in order to shape these sandal. They were then apparently incised and painted or dyed. The sandals were ultimately outfitted with hide straps. These very handsome sandals were discovered in colonial era ethnographic collection. 10" in length. They be mounted in a variety of ways. Inclusive price available on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2	« Inquire About This Item » The Iraqw are a farming people in northern Tanzania. They are one of a few Cushitic cultures in the region, with a language unrelated to any other in Tanzania. Girls reportedly fabricate leather skirts for themselves during a period of seclusion prior to marriage, decorating them with beads and, on occasion, recycled materials such as discarded keys and other bright odds and ends. However, adult women are also known to participate in the beading of skirts and will wear them along with younger members of the community on ceremonial occasions. The meanings ascribed to the diverse beading patterns vary from beader to beader. A zigzagging line may be described as a river, or the path of life or even the "ups and downs of marriage." A circle is the sun or the home. There are two types of skirt: pull on skirts (such as this beautiful example) and the better known wrap skirts. The former are rarely seen in western collections. 20th century. 27" radius. Unmounted. Price on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2 « Inquire About This Item » View Number 3	« Inquire About This Item » The Iraqw are a farming people in northern Tanzania. They are one of a few Cushitic cultures in the region, with a language unrelated to any other in Tanzania. Girls reportedly fabricate leather skirts for themselves during a period of seclusion prior to marriage, decorating them with beads and, on occasion, recycled materials such as discarded keys and other bright odds and ends. However, adult women are also known to participate in the beading of skirts and will wear them along with younger members of the community on ceremonial occasions. The meanings ascribed to the diverse beading patterns vary from beader to beader. A zigzagging line may be described as a river, or the path of life or even the "ups and downs of marriage." A circle is the sun or the home. There are two types of skirt: pull on skirts and the better known wrap skirts, splended ly represented here. The former are rarely seen in western collections. 27" radius. Unmounted. Price on request.	« Inquire About This Item » A classic adire (indigo resist) in the "jubilee" pattern dating from the 1960s or 70s. Adire is no longer being produced. The materials and time involved are costly. White areas are first laid out with cassava starch before the cloth is immersed. The underlying cloth in this case is cotton damask with a repeated floral pattern of its own in white on white thread. According to Duncan Clark (adireafricantextiles.com) The "jubilee" pattern was debuted in 1935 for the anniversary celebration of colonial Britain's George V and Queen Mary. It remained among the most popular adire patterns for generations. Price and dimensions on request. « Inquire About This Item » View Number 2