{"title":"Featured Offer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; display: inline !important; float: none;\"\u003e\"After Auction Sale\"  \"Ends Sunday. June 14th\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-couple-of-bronze-leopards","title":"A couple of Bronze Leopards","description":"\u003cp\u003eA couple of Bronze Leopards, in the style of Benin, Nigeria, signs of age and unprofessional repairs, which were sometimes made even before colonial times using traditional techniques by local craftsmen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"248\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Benin Bronze leopards are royal artworks from the Kingdom of Benin located in what is now Nigeria They were crafted from brass or bronze by highly skilled guild artists during the height of the Benin Empire between the 15th and 17th centuries\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"250\" data-end=\"508\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eLeopards held great symbolic significance in Benin culture representing power authority and the divine nature of the Oba the king of Benin The Oba was often associated with the leopard as a spiritual and political figure combining human and animal strength\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"510\" data-end=\"735\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThese bronze sculptures were used as royal emblems displayed in the palace and sometimes used in rituals They often show detailed muscular forms and expressive features showcasing the technical mastery of Benin metalworkers\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe oba of Benin is a sacred monarch, a living link to the powerful realm of ancestors and deities. He is considered to be beyond the needs and restraints that limit humankind, such as eating, sleeping, illness, and even death. The oba is referred to metaphorically as \"the leopard of the hosue\" and images of the beautiful, cunning, and immensely dangerous cat appear frequently in Benin’s royal arts. Before the British invasion in 1897, domesticated leopards were kept in the palace to demonstrate the oba’s mastery over the wilderness.Leopard imageryis also frequently linked to the oba’s military might. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe oba’s divine right to rule is reiterated in his regalia. His coralcrowns, shirts, aprons, necklaces, and accessories refer to those that Oba Ewuare is said to have stolen from Olokun, the god of the waters and prosperity. Coral and red stones such as jasper and agate are also filled with supernatural energy, or ase, as are elephant ivory and brass two other valuable materials that the oba has historically controlled.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDespite his divine status, the oba cannot rule alone. He must rely on others to fulfill his destiny, a dependence that is physically expressed when he walks or sits with his arms supported at the elbows and wrists by attendants. They help him bear the weight of his regalia, a constant reminder of the burden of kingship\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eSource: The Art Institute of Chicago.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 64 cm \/ 66 cm\u003cbr\u003eLength: 88 cm \/ 60 cm \u003cbr\u003eWeight: 25,5 kg \/ 24 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53311607275843,"sku":"CAB07313","price":2400.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB07313.jpg?v=1750076142"},{"product_id":"an-ẹyo-otọ-ama","title":"An Ẹyo Otọ, Ama","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn Ẹyo Otọ, Ama,in the style of Benin, depicting a mud-fish collected in Benin city, Nigeria.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAma is a pictorial combination of figures that has a historical explanation or is a visual representation of a historical event. Ama had a mnemonic purpose, aiding one to recall the events or persons represented in the artwork. Benin oral traditions are popularly transmitted in the form of commemorative festivals, stories, plays, songs, poems, riddles, proverbs and other forms of oral literature. Ben-Amos (1980:28) observed the existence of over nine hundred known plaques which provided a testimony to court life at the time of Ọba Esigie, considered ‘a sort of pictorial record of events in Benin history, an aid to memorizing oral traditions’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"469\"\u003eIn the Benin artistic corpus, particularly from the court workshops of the Edo people, animal plates such as an Ẹyo Otọ or Ama depicting the mud-fish (commonly identified as \u003cem data-start=\"174\" data-end=\"194\"\u003eClarias gariepinus\u003c\/em\u003e, the African catfish) form part of a sophisticated symbolic and ritual repertoire. These plates are typically cast in brass using the lost-wax technique, a hallmark of Benin bronze craftsmanship, and serve both functional and emblematic purposes within the palace context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"471\" data-end=\"1066\"\u003eThe mud-fish is highly significant in Benin iconography. Its natural duality—capable of surviving in both water and mud—renders it a symbol of resilience, adaptability, and often, by extension, the liminal powers of kingship. Plates or plaques showing the mud-fish could function as courtly display objects, ritual implements, or insignia of the Oba’s authority, embodying metaphors of strength and persistence. The fish may appear in profile with stylized fins and prominent barbels, sometimes integrated into decorative borders of vegetal or geometric motifs characteristic of Benin bronzes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1068\" data-end=\"1562\"\u003eFormally, these plates combine high-relief figuration with a polished patina, often with the animal rendered with naturalistic attention but also abstracted to emphasize symbolic meaning rather than biological exactitude. Similar examples are found in the collection of the British Museum and in historic palace ensembles, where animal motifs—including mud-fish, leopards, crocodiles, and antelopes—operate as courtly allegories, referencing both cosmological beliefs and political authority.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1564\" data-end=\"1950\"\u003eThe specific fascination with mud-fish plates may also connect to ritual associations, possibly linked to the water cults and the Oba’s role as mediator between land and water realms. Unlike European animal plates, which often prioritize decorative or culinary function, these Benin examples are deeply interwoven with notions of power, spiritual protection, and ancestral veneration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"588\"\u003eIn the Benin corpus, there is evidence to suggest that the earliest brass and ivory plaques from the palace workshops predominantly featured human figures rather than animals. The so-called “courtly” plaques—dating from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries—were largely figural, depicting Obas, attendants, warriors, and ritual specialists, emphasizing lineage, hierarchy, and the power of the throne. Animal motifs, while present, appear less frequently in the earliest phases and often serve symbolic or allegorical functions rather than direct representation of courtly events.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"590\" data-end=\"1195\"\u003eAnimal depictions, including mud-fish, leopards, or crocodiles, seem to become more prominent in later ensembles, roughly from the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, as the palace repertoire expanded and symbolic codification intensified. They are often integrated into decorative borders or cast as independent plates for ritual or emblematic purposes. Some scholars, however, note that animals may have had earlier symbolic significance—particularly in ritual contexts—though surviving examples are rare, partly because figural plaques were produced in higher numbers and have been better preserved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1197\" data-end=\"1430\"\u003eThus, while animal imagery is ancient and conceptually integral to Benin cosmology, the surviving material record indicates that plaques depicting human figures generally predate the systematic production of animal-specific plates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1952\" data-end=\"1964\"\u003eFootnotes:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col data-start=\"1965\" data-end=\"2271\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1965\" data-end=\"2069\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1968\" data-end=\"2069\"\u003eEkpo Eyo, \u003cem data-start=\"1978\" data-end=\"2023\"\u003eBenin Art: Court and Civic Bronze Sculpture\u003c\/em\u003e, Lagos: National Museum Publications, 1982.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2070\" data-end=\"2170\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2073\" data-end=\"2170\"\u003ePaula Girshick Ben-Amos, \u003cem data-start=\"2098\" data-end=\"2122\"\u003eArt and Power in Benin\u003c\/em\u003e, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2171\" data-end=\"2271\" data-is-last-node=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2174\" data-end=\"2271\" data-is-last-node=\"\"\u003eDavid W. Adjaye, “Animal Imagery in Benin Brass Plaques,” \u003cem data-start=\"2232\" data-end=\"2246\"\u003eAfrican Arts\u003c\/em\u003e 17, no. 2 (1984): 44–55.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1197\" data-end=\"1430\"\u003eHeight: 45 cm\u003cbr\u003eLength: 36 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 3 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"wolfgang-jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53889994883395,"sku":"CAB21339","price":800.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB21339.jpg?v=1763140193"},{"product_id":"a-yoruba-bowlkeeper-1","title":"A Yoruba bowlkeeper","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Yoruba bowlkeeper collected in Ekiti region, Nigeria. Carved of a kneeling female figure holding fa bowl supported by two male and two female figures on either side of the bowl, between them, under the bowl is a the head of a bearded male figure. Brownish patina; minor cracks and scratches, signs of use and age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Yoruba Bowlkeeper: Symbolism, Function, and Artistic Significance\u003cbr\u003eThe Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria have produced one of the most sophisticated and symbolically rich artistic traditions in sub-Saharan Africa. Among the most striking examples are the ritual sculptures referred to as “bowlkeepers,” or bowl-bearing figures, which serve both aesthetic and ritual functions. These sculptures, often carved from wood, depict a human or spiritual figure—typically female—bearing a bowl used for religious or ceremonial purposes.\u003cbr\u003eThe term “bowlkeeper” in this context refers not to a literal guardian but to a carved figure integrated into the vessel that conveys symbolic and spiritual connotations. Such objects are most frequently associated with rituals of offering, divination, and healing, central to Yoruba religious practice. One of the most commonly depicted figures is that of a kneeling woman holding a bowl in front of her or balanced on her head. These figures are thought to represent idealized qualities such as fertility, service, and moral integrity.\u003cbr\u003eIn Yoruba cosmology, orishas—deified ancestors and spiritual entities—are intermediaries between humans and the supreme deity, Olodumare. Offerings are presented to the orishas in bowls, which are often housed in or presented with anthropomorphic containers. The bowlkeeper, therefore, becomes a symbolic mediator of divine-human interaction, embodying both reverence and aesthetic devotion. The emphasis on the female form in these sculptures aligns with Yoruba cultural values that associate women with nurturing, wisdom, and ritual mediation.\u003cbr\u003eOne key orisha associated with bowlbearing sculptures is Èṣù (Eshu), the trickster deity and divine messenger. In Eshu-related iconography, the bowl may contain cowrie shells, kola nuts, or other ritual implements. These items are used in Ifá divination, where the bowl serves as a container for tools needed by the babaláwo, or diviner-priest. In this setting, the bowlkeeper is more than decoration: it is an essential component of the divination apparatus, enhancing the ritual efficacy through its symbolism and presence.\u003cbr\u003eArtistically, Yoruba bowlkeepers exemplify the region’s classical sculptural principles: clarity of form, symmetry, and hieratic scale. Many include scarification patterns, elaborate hairstyles, and beaded adornments, which reflect not only status but also a connection to the spiritual realm. As noted by Suzanne Preston Blier, such sculptures are “active agents” in Yoruba religious life, simultaneously communicating spiritual messages and reaffirming social roles.\u003cbr\u003eToday, Yoruba bowlkeepers are prominently featured in ethnographic and art museums, such as the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These artifacts not only reflect African spiritual life but also challenge Western distinctions between art and ritual object, demanding recognition of their multivalent functions as both sacred tools and aesthetic expressions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReferences:\u2028\u2028Drewal, Henry John. African Artistry: Technique and Aesthetics in Yoruba Sculpture. New York: Interlink Books, 1980.\u2028\u2028Lawal, Babatunde. “Yoruba Sango Sculpture: Exegesis and Aesthetics.” African Arts, vol. 28, no. 1, 1995, pp. 50–96.\u2028\u2028Abimbola, Wande. Ifá: An Exposition of Ifá Literary Corpus. Ibadan: Oxford University Press, 1976.\u2028\u2028Willett, Frank. Ifẹ̀ in the History of West African Sculpture. London: Thames \u0026amp; Hudson, 1967.\u2028\u2028Blier, Suzanne Preston. African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 88 cm\u2028\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 9,2 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"wolfgang-jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54029392740675,"sku":"CAB27550","price":600.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB27550.jpg?v=1766401815"},{"product_id":"an-okhuo-female","title":"An Okhuo female","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn Okhuo female Bronze sculpture, in the style of Benin, Nigeria, standing on a square plinth that is decorated with a bow and arrow, long flat feet, ankle bracelets, short legs, a necklace around the waist, a cylindrical body, a braided necklace around the neck crossing between her breasts, short arms rising towards the sky, the hands are upwards, open, she has a large rounded head composed of serene features, a closed mouth, pointed nose and two large eyes, her hair is short and composed of small lines and dots. The arms are reattached, by a later restoration, which has not the quality of the fragentary sculpture, documented in the last photo of this sequence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Many of these Okhuo represent young unmarried women, which we know as they are naked except for a girdle of Ekan or Ivie around their waist or hips. They would mostly likely have been maidens serving in the royal court of the Ọba or that of the Iy’Ọba.,\" Source Digital Benin.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/002.anhang\/Okhuo.png\" width=\"312\" height=\"464\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe well known Okhuo female Bronze sculpture, which was restituted by the SPK (Stiftung Preußischer Kultur Besitz \/Humboldtforum former Ethnological Museum Berlin, to Nigeria.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"379\"\u003eThe term Okhuo refers to a particular category of female bronze representations within the cultural sphere of the Benin Kingdom, most often associated with courtly contexts and the visual codification of female prestige. These sculptures typically present a mature woman whose physiognomy and adornment communicate her role within the dynastic and ritual order of the palace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"381\" data-end=\"966\"\u003eIn historical terms, such bronzes belong to a corpus shaped by the guild of brasscasters (Igun Eronmwon) serving the Oba. Their formal vocabulary combines idealised anatomy with the emblematic features of Benin court style: a carefully modelled coiffure, an emphasis on the curvature of the torso, and a compositional stillness that suggests controlled dignity. Female bronzes of this type are frequently interpreted as commemorative images of titled women, palace attendants, or royal mothers whose social agency is embedded in the reproductive and ritual maintenance of kingship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"968\" data-end=\"1368\"\u003eTheir significance draws from the political theology of the Benin court, where women of rank participated in the cyclical renewal of authority. In this sense the Okhuo sculpture functions as a mnemonic vehicle, linking the dynastic present to an ancestral continuum. Some examples show traces of red camwood or sacrificial patina, indicating their involvement in rites of invocation or remembrance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1370\" data-end=\"1786\"\u003eStylistically, the Okhuo bronzes reveal a tension between iconic fixity and subtle naturalism. The sculptural modelling of the eyelids, lips and chin recalls the canonical forms that matured between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, yet the articulation of jewellery and cloth registers the specific status of an individual whose ceremonial appearance would have been defined by palace sumptuary regulations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1370\" data-end=\"1786\"\u003eComparable works preserved in museum collections indicate that these sculptures served as part of larger assemblages placed on ancestral altars. Their function was therefore simultaneously devotional and historiographic, preserving the presence of significant women whose authority or motherhood contributed to the transmission of royal legitimacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1788\" data-end=\"2138\"\u003eComparable works preserved in museum collections indicate that these sculptures served as part of larger assemblages placed on ancestral altars. Their function was therefore simultaneously devotional and historiographic, preserving the presence of significant women whose authority or motherhood contributed to the transmission of royal legitimacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2140\" data-end=\"2569\"\u003eThe interpretation of Okhuo bronzes has been informed by early colonial records as well as later ethnographic testimonies, though these must be approached critically due to their fragmentary character. Scholarly analysis has repeatedly emphasised the intimate connection between feminine prestige and the metaphysical structure of monarchy in Benin, with the bronze medium itself underscoring permanence and dynastic endurance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1975\" data-end=\"2284\"\u003eFragmentary female bronzes attributable specifically to a named type such as “Okhuo female bronze” are uncommon in the online catalogues of major museums; images that do appear are more often single dealer records or aggregated catalogue entries for damaged masks or partial castings.²\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2286\" data-end=\"2643\"\u003eIf you wish I will: provide high-resolution catalogue entries (downloadable pages) for specific fragmentary objects found in dealer or institutional records; compile a short checklist of institutions that hold fragmentary Benin bronzes (with direct catalogue references); or search museum collection databases for particular object numbers or provenances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2286\" data-end=\"2643\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/002.anhang\/fragmentary.bronce.sculpture.in.the%20style.of.tada.png\" width=\"272\" height=\"395\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eFragmentary Bronze sculpture in the style of Tada, former Wolfgang Jaenicke collection.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2286\" data-end=\"2643\"\u003eCAB22038\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1329\" data-end=\"1583\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"I believe that the import of all art objects from Africa—whether copies or originals—should be prohibited to protect Africa.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eQuote: Prof. Dr. Viola König, former director of the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, now HUMBOLDTFORUM\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLegal Framework\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eUnder the 1970 UNESCO Convention in combination with the Kulturgutschutz Gesetz (KGSG) any claim for the restitution of cultural property becomes time-barred three years after the competent authorities of the State of origin obtain knowledge of the object’s location and the identity of its possessor. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAll bronzes and terracotta items offered have been publicly exhibited in Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery since 2001. Organisations such as DIGITAL BENIN and academic institutions such as the Technical University of Berlin, which have been intensively involved in restitution-reseaches  (translocation-project) over the past seven years, are aware of our work, have inspected large parts of our collection and have visited us in our dependance in Lomé, Togo, among other places, to learn about the international Art trade on site. Furthermore, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Abuja, Nigeria, has been informed about our collection. In no case in the past have there been restitution claims against private institutions such as the Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eOur Gallery addresses these structural challenges through a policy of maximum transparency and documentation. Should any questions or uncertainties arise, we invite you to contact us. Each matter will be reviewed diligently using all available resources.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 58 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 7,7 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"wolfgang-jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54029526368579,"sku":"CAB22038","price":1200.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB22038.jpg?v=1766405728"},{"product_id":"a-bronze-plate-ama-1","title":"A bronze plate - Ama","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA bronze plate - \u003cem\u003eAma\u003c\/em\u003e -. depicting the Oba in the center and two servants at the side, in u-shaped pierced through open work form, the legs are ending in curved mudfishes, of excellent condition, incl. wooden stand, collected in Benin City, Nigeria.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" height=\"486\" width=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/002.anhang\/luschan.plate%20.png\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"en\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eCompared to the plate depicted at Luschan, this example demonstrates not only the extraordinary differences in quality among ancient bronze castings, but also the differences in where these bronzes were stored.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eBronzes preserved for years in royal palaces are far rarer than those that have fallen into obscurity or were abonened.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCAB27831a\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 55 cm without stand\u003cbr\u003eLength: 41 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 14,2 kg incl. stand\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"wolfgang-jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54033157751107,"sku":"CAB27831a","price":1200.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB27831a.jpg?v=1766520296"},{"product_id":"a-brass-altar-of-the-hand-ikegobo","title":"A brass \"Altar of the Hand\" - Ikegobo","description":"\u003cp\u003eA brass \"Altar of the Hand\" - \u003cem\u003eIkegobo\u003c\/em\u003e - Nigeria, lost-wax cast in brass. cylindrical in form with the seated central figure of an Oba (king) on top wearing beaded coral regalia and holding two downturned swords, flanked by two chiefs, the Oba appears twice on the cylinder, now standing and again flanked by the two chiefs, with another dignitary or official between each of the two groups, at the bottom edge of the altar is a looped ribbon; oxidations and remnants of laterith encrustration. \u003cspan data-sfc-cp=\"\"\u003eBrass \u003cem\u003eikegobo\u003c\/em\u003e were reserved for the Oba (king), the Queen Mother (Iyoba), and high-ranking chiefs, while others used wood or terracotta.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIkẹgobọ are placed on ancestral altars. Typically, the Ọba, \u003ca data-bs-toggle=\"modal\" data-bs-target=\"#look-up-modal\" role=\"button\"\u003eIy’Ọba\u003c\/a\u003e and certain privileged chiefs may use cast forms, whereas chiefs use wooden ones (Dean, 1983). Altars of the hand are cylindrical, the outer sides decorated with relief carving. They are sometimes topped with sculptural elements, elephant tusks or antelope horns, and wooden altars are topped with a conical projection which mimics a tusk. Worship of the hand is important in Edo belief; the hand relates to an individual’s success with different skills, qualities or characteristics, such as craftsmanship, hunting or warcraft.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChief Jacob Egharevba (1949, pp.88-89) worship of the ‘god of the hand’ emerged during the fifteenth century, during the reign of Ọba Ewaure I. What is less certain is whether altars of the hand also emerged at this time, or were a later development. Today, Ikẹgobọ continue to be used on altars by individuals who have high-ranking positions within the palace societies.\" Digital Benin\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/digitalbenin.org\/eyo-oto\/4\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"In the kingdom of Benin, ikegobo, or \"altars to the hand,\" celebrate the accomplishments of exceptional individuals. The hand is associated with action and productivity, and is considered the source of wealth, status, and success for all those who depend on manual skill and physical strength. Altars of this kind are commissioned in terracotta, wood, or brass, depending on the status of the patron.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This ikegobo is an important historical document associated with the reign of Akenzua I. In the early eighteenth century, rebellious chiefs challenged Akenzua's leadership and threatened the unity and stability of the kingdom. Ehenua, Akenzua's ezomo or military commander, played a central role in defeating these forces and restoring order to the kingdom. In recognition of his heroism and service, Akenzua presented Ehenua with an ikegobo illustrating his military triumph.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLit.: \u003cem\u003eBritish Museum, Benin. Könige und Rituale. Höfische Kunst aus Nigeria, Wien 2007.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCAB31695\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 47 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 9,9 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54167597973827,"sku":"CAB31695","price":1600.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB31695.jpg?v=1770285966"},{"product_id":"a-male-sculpture-attributed-to-bimtiote-dah","title":"A male sculpture attributed to Bimtiote Dah","description":"\u003cp\u003eA male sculpture attributed to Bimtiote Dah from the Lobi region of Ivory Coast stands upon a dark grey stepped base with wedge-shaped feet and straight, uninterrupted legs rising vertically from the platform. The elongated torso is framed by equally straight arms that fall closely along the sides of the body, while the shoulders are slightly raised and gently rounded. A thick, columnar neck supports an oval head whose features convey a calm and contemplative expression. The figure is carved from a dense, dark wood—possibly \u003cem data-end=\"565\" data-start=\"556\"\u003esankolo\u003c\/em\u003e—whose surface now appears somewhat faded with age. Traces of old insect damage are visible on the left shoulder, contributing to the sculpture’s material history and patina.\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" height=\"371\" width=\"279\" src=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/001anhang\/bimtiote.binate.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe informant Binate Kambou with a sculpture of Bimtiote Dah\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1824\" data-start=\"741\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe identification of the sculptor by name was achieved in 2008 through information provided by the Lobi informant Binaté Kambou. According to his testimony, the artist’s birthplace lay near the town of Bouna in Ivory Coast. The carver’s name, he stated, was Bimtiote Dah. Dah worked in the vicinity of Sansana, approximately twenty kilometres south of Gaoua, in the border region between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. He died in the early 1990s at roughly seventy years of age. Dah had only one son, who continued ritual activities in the region as a diviner before later settling near Gongonbili in Burkina Faso (status as of 2008). The art dealer Adama Poujougou of Bamako—who in earlier decades had supplied works to the prominent dealers Hélène Leloup and Henri Kamer—confirmed that this Lobi sculptor had once been known locally and had achieved a certain reputation for his works among the Lobi themselves.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"2653\" data-start=\"1902\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eToday, according to Poujougou, sculptures by Bimtiote Dah have become rare, largely because “the carver died long ago.” Although the dealer recognized the distinctive character of the sculptures, he did not know the artist’s name. Binaté Kambou, however, was an important informant for numerous ethnologists conducting field research in Lobi territory. Among them was the German ethnologist Klaus Schneider, later director of the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the so-called “Elephant House” belonging to Kambou’s father. Kambou also assisted independent researchers such as Petra Schütz and Detlev Linse, through whom the present author first came into contact with him.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cimg height=\"371\" width=\"252\" alt=\"son.bimtiote.dah\" src=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/001anhang\/son.bimtiote.sansana.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003ephoto: wj\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"2922\" data-start=\"2669\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe sculptor’s son, Kermité Dah (born 1956), served as a ritual specialist and feticheur in the village of Gongonbili and was living in Burkina Faso in 2008. He confirmed that the sculptures documented in this context were works created by his father.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"3787\" data-start=\"2924\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWithin Lobi sculpture the attribution of works to a specific individual carver is relatively rare. Most objects were produced within workshop environments, and the identities of their makers were seldom recorded or preserved. When a name such as Bimtiote Dah emerges, it usually indicates either an artist of exceptional local reputation or a workshop tradition associated with a particular locality. According to the documentation of Wolfgang Jaenicke, Bimtiote Dah (ca. 1920–1990) was active in the region between Bouna in Ivory Coast and Gaoua in Burkina Faso and formed part of a workshop lineage distinguished by a strong and recognizable stylistic identity. His sculptures frequently demonstrate a restrained formal language and a preference for balanced or paired compositions, characteristics consistent with the aesthetic traditions of the Southern Lobi.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-is-only-node=\"\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-end=\"4248\" data-start=\"3789\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eJaenicke’s research—based in part on interviews with Dah’s son, who continued to serve locally as a ritual specialist—confirms that a number of sculptures attributed to Bimtiote Dah have appeared in prominent European auctions and collections. Such documentation lends these figures both historical and cultural legitimacy, situating them within a traceable lineage of production and within a broader framework of verified provenance and stylistic continuity.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"837\" data-start=\"0\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn contrast to the Western artistic tradition, where aesthetic autonomy is frequently celebrated as an end in itself, Lobi sculpture is inseparably bound to function. A Lobi figure does not exist as “art” in the museum sense until it has been removed from its original context. In situ it is understood as an active presence—an entity rather than a representation. Within the domestic shrine it participates in a living system of ritual practice: it is addressed, fed through offerings, consulted through divination, and at times feared as the embodied locus of spiritual agency. Once removed from this environment, however, the figure undergoes a profound ontological transformation. It shifts from sacred instrument to cultural artifact, from an operative presence within a cosmological order to an object of aesthetic contemplation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis transition raises important questions concerning the ethics of collecting, displaying, and interpreting such works. What is lost when an object that was once ritually nourished, spoken to, and feared becomes part of a private collection or museum inventory? What does it mean to isolate the visual form from the spiritual framework that originally animated it—to separate the object from the ontology within which it once functioned? These questions are not merely theoretical. They touch on the broader tension between the preservation of material culture and the inevitable transformation of meaning that occurs when ritual objects circulate within global systems of art historical classification and market exchange.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cimg height=\"199\" width=\"448\" alt=\"bimtiote workshop trobalartforum\" src=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/001anhang\/bimtiote.workshop.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003ephoto: wj Examples of the Bitiote Dah workshop\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1646\" data-end=\"2368\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eYet the international appreciation of Lobi sculpture has also drawn attention to the philosophical depth of West African spiritual traditions. Collectors and scholars alike have noted the distinctive resistance of the Lobi to colonial centralization and missionary restructuring—historical circumstances that contributed to the relative continuity of their ritual practices and the preservation of their material culture in forms often more intact than those found in neighboring regions. The sculptures attributed to Bimtiote Dah therefore exist not only as striking formal compositions but also as nodes within a dense network of ritual practice, metaphysical belief, historical resilience, and contemporary revaluation.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2370\" data-end=\"3247\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBimtiote Dah (ca. 1920–early 1990s) is regarded as one of the few identifiable master sculptors within the Lobi carving tradition of southwestern Burkina Faso and the adjacent regions of northeastern Ivory Coast. His work belongs to the sculptural culture of the Lobi peoples, whose settlements extend across the borderlands of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. In this region wood sculpture has historically been produced for ritual and domestic religious use rather than for artistic recognition, and individual carvers were seldom documented by name. The attribution of a body of works to Bimtiote Dah therefore represents an unusual case in the historiography of West African sculpture, where the identification of specific hands or workshops has often been possible only through stylistic analysis and oral testimony.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3249\" data-end=\"3827\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWithin this context, a Lobi sculpture attributed to Dah must be understood as more than a compelling sculptural object. It is the material residue of a worldview in which the visible and invisible are intimately intertwined, and in which carved wood serves as a mediator between human life and the realm of spiritual forces. The quiet gravity of such figures thus speaks not only to the skill of an individual sculptor but also to the enduring intellectual and spiritual coherence of Lobi culture itself—a worldview in which matter and spirit remain deeply and inseparably entangled.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBimtiote Dah (ca. 1920–early 1990s) is regarded as one of the few identifiable master sculptors within the Lobi carving tradition of southwestern Burkina Faso and the adjacent regions of northeastern Ivory Coast. His work belongs to the sculptural culture of the Lobi peoples, whose settlements extend across the borderlands of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. In this region wood sculpture has historically been produced for ritual and domestic religious use rather than for artistic recognition, and individual carvers were seldom documented by name. The attribution of a body of works to Bimtiote Dah therefore represents an unusual case in the historiography of West African sculpture, where the identification of specific hands or workshops has often been possible only through stylistic analysis and oral testimony.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"879\" data-end=\"1966\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eDah is believed to have been born around 1920 near the town of Bouna in present-day Ivory Coast, though his activity is more closely associated with villages in the Lobi region around Gaoua in southern Burkina Faso. Accounts collected from local informants situate him among a group of highly respected ritual specialists who combined carving with knowledge of local religious practices. The first explicit identification of the sculptor by name appears to have emerged through oral testimony gathered in the region, notably from the Lobi informant \u003cstrong data-start=\"1492\" data-end=\"1510\"\u003eBinathé Kambou\u003c\/strong\u003e, who recognized specific sculptures as the work of Bimtiote Dah. This attribution was subsequently confirmed by the sculptor’s son, himself active as a ritual specialist in the family village of Sansana. The convergence of these testimonies, recorded during research conducted in the early twenty-first century, provided the basis for the recognition of Bimtiote Dah as an individual artist within the Lobi tradition.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1968\" data-end=\"2525\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWithin Lobi cosmology the carved wooden figures commonly known as bateba serve as material embodiments or intermediaries for spiritual forces called thila. These spirits are believed to inhabit the landscape and to communicate with humans through diviners, prescribing the creation of particular sculptural forms in order to restore equilibrium within the household or community. The resulting figures are therefore not conceived as aesthetic objects in the Western sense but as functional agents intended to mediate protection, healing, or moral order.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2527\" data-end=\"3524\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe sculptures attributed to Bimtiote Dah participate fully in this religious framework yet display a distinctive formal coherence that has attracted the attention of collectors and scholars of African art. His figures typically stand in a strong frontal pose, carved from a single block of hardwood and characterized by a compact volumetric structure. The bodies are often rendered with an emphatic verticality, broad shoulders, and slightly shortened limbs, producing a sense of mass and stability. Facial features tend toward geometric simplification: the head is frequently cylindrical or slightly elongated, with deeply set eyes and a restrained, closed expression that contributes to the solemnity of the figure’s presence. Surface treatment is generally spare, allowing the essential forms of the sculpture to dominate. Over time the wood develops a dense patina through ritual handling and the application of sacrificial substances, traces of which often remain visible on surviving works.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3526\" data-end=\"4209\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSuch formal characteristics situate Dah’s sculptures within the broader corpus of Lobi carving while also revealing a particular sensitivity to proportion and balance. Scholars have noted the sculptor’s preference for concentrated volumes and minimal ornamentation, qualities that produce a striking visual gravity. Although comparisons have sometimes been drawn between the frontal monumentality of these figures and the compositional principles of ancient Mediterranean or Egyptian statuary, these similarities arise independently within the Lobi cultural context and reflect the sculptor’s concern with the spiritual efficacy rather than the representational accuracy of the form.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4211\" data-end=\"4849\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe recognition of Bimtiote Dah as a named artist illustrates the methodological challenges inherent in the study of African sculpture produced outside written artistic traditions. Attributions often rely on a combination of stylistic analysis, field research, and the memories of local communities who retain knowledge of past carvers and ritual specialists. In the case of Dah, the identification by Binathé Kambou and the confirmation by the artist’s son have provided a rare documentary anchor for a body of works whose stylistic coherence had long suggested the presence of an individual master.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4851\" data-end=\"5627\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eToday sculptures attributed to Bimtiote Dah appear in important private collections and in museums devoted to African art. Their presence in these contexts reflects the broader transformation of ritual objects into works valued within the global art market and museum system, a shift that began during the twentieth century as European and American collectors developed an increasing interest in the sculptural traditions of West Africa. At the same time, the original religious significance of such figures remains central to their interpretation. Within Lobi communities the bateba were never intended as isolated works of art but as participants in a living spiritual network linking human beings, ancestors, and the unseen forces that govern the natural and moral order.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5629\" data-end=\"6285\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn this sense the work of Bimtiote Dah occupies a complex position between local religious practice and international recognition. His sculptures continue to testify to the vitality of Lobi spiritual traditions while also illustrating the ways in which individual artistic voices could emerge within those traditions, even in the absence of written documentation or formal artistic institutions. Through their restrained forms and concentrated presence, the figures attributed to Dah convey the profound seriousness with which sculpture functioned within Lobi society, embodying the protective and mediating powers entrusted to them by the spiritual world.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5629\" data-end=\"6285\"\u003eProvenance: Rainer Greschik-Callection, Berlin\u003cbr\u003eExhibited: Lobi Exhibition Wittenberg, Germany\u003cbr\u003eB ogspot: Eindrücke von einer Ausstellung - Die Sammlung Greschik in Wittenberg\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5629\" data-end=\"6285\"\u003ePublished: Museum der Städtischen Sammlungen, Wittenberg\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5629\" data-end=\"6285\"\u003eJaenicke-Njoya Archiv CAB49426\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5629\" data-end=\"6285\"\u003eHeight: 64 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 2,4 kg\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"4001\" data-start=\"3304\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54496646201667,"sku":"CAB49426","price":1800.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB49426_8113cb78-f768-4df0-bf29-2e3fb3710686.jpg?v=1779384312"},{"product_id":"an-uhunmwu-elao-2","title":"An Uhunmwu-Elao","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn Uhunmwu-Elao commemorative head of an Ọba, in the style of Benin, casted in bronze, iron inlays as pupils, regalia of coral beads, a cap-like crown and a high collar of coral necklaces, symbolizing the power and dignity of the Oba. Different layers of encrusted oxidations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eElaborate coral bead regalia, including a high, tiered headdress and densely layered collar, signals royal status and controlled access to wealth and trade goods, while also emphasizing the head as the locus of identity and spiritual force in Edo belief. Such heads were typically placed on altars dedicated to deceased Queen Mothers, where they served as focal points for ritual offerings and acts of remembrance, reinforcing the continuity between the living Oba and his maternal lineage.\u003cbr\u003eIn the Benin kingdom, the Iyoba, or mother of the oba (king), occupies an important and historically significant place within Benin's political hierarchy. The title was first conferred upon Idia, the mother of king Esigie, who used her political skill to save her son's kingdom from dissolution in the late fifteenth century. Ever since that time, queen mothers have been considered powerful protectors of their sons and, by extension, the kingdom itself. Because of the enormous esteem in which they are held, iyobas enjoy privileges second only to the oba himself, such as a separate palace, a retinue of female attendants, and the right to commission cast brass sculptures for religious or personal use.\u003cbr\u003eAfter the death of an Oba, an altar was built for him in a closed courtyard of the Benin palace. One of the most important objects on these altars were memorial heads of the deceased cast from brass.A carved ivory tusk once rose from the calotte of these commemorative heads. Extensive rituals and regular sacrifices at this altar by the successor confirmed his ties to the royal ancestors and increased his spiritual power. See Digital Benin, the Uhunmwu-Elao commemorative heads.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eResources:\u003cbr\u003eFelix von Luschan, Die Altertümer von Benin, Band 1, Berlin 1919, S. 355-358.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePhilip J. C. Dark: An introduction to Benin art and technology, Oxford 1973, S. 95.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilliam Fagg, Bildwerke aus Nigeria, München 1963, S. 44.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArmand Duchateau Benin. Kunst einer Afrikanischen Königskultur, München 1995, S. 45-53.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Met Museum\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCAB42927\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 29 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 4,7 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54496651411779,"sku":"CAB42927","price":2800.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB42927.jpg?v=1779384683"},{"product_id":"a-funeral-mask-in-the-style-of-ife-1","title":"A funeral mask in the style of Ife","description":"\u003cp\u003eA funeral mask in the style of Ife. The striking feature of this \"mask\" is its naturalism. It resembles a real portrait of a human being and yet the expression is idealized. It seems that one did not try to portray a particular human being with all sorts of things, but tried to portray the human being as he appeared or should live on in his memory (Frank Willet). Thinwalled and encrusted multi-layered patina, see magnifications at the end of the photo-sequence, incl. stand.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe suspect that it is a funeral mask that was used in ceremonies by high-ranking aristocratic figures.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e It would be the task of Nigerian anthropologists to clarify these questions through on-site research.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe mask probably looked different than pictured here. Hair, a beard, pearls and headdress probably hung from the holes on the forehead and around the mouth. However, the earlier appearance and the exact identification can not be reconstructed. Normally it is assumed that such masks represent a king of Ife (an oni). And indeed, Ife expert Frank Willett has assumed that a very similar object is a portrait of Obalufons II, the third Oni of Ife, to whom the inauguration of the tradition of cast bronze is attributed.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStefan Eisenhofer: Enigmatic masterpieces. The art of Ife, in: Ife, Akan and Benin. 2000 years of West African art, Pforzheim 2000, p. 20\/21. Frank Willet: Ife. Metropolis of African Art, Gustav Lübbe Verlag, p.27 \"Ife in the History of West African Sculpture\" 1967\u003c\/em\u003e, Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery, Berlin, Invitation1.8.2019, with a similar copy of this mask.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCAB45490\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 28 cm without stand\u003cbr\u003eHeight: 42 cm incl. stand\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 2,6 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54496666648899,"sku":"CAB45490","price":1600.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB45490.jpg?v=1779385281"},{"product_id":"a-prampram-statue","title":"A Prampram statue","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"3642\" data-end=\"3652\"\u003eA Prampram statue, Southern Region, Prampram village, Ghana.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:7d9360a0-1066-4a8a-a3ea-bc408d65d269-2\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"f5b5ecc2-2dd7-4331-86af-85af2e176d21\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-5\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"856\"\u003eThis wooden figure from Prampram in the southern coastal region of Ghana belongs to the sculptural traditions associated with Ga-Adangbe communities along the Gulf of Guinea. Prampram, historically situated within a network of fishing settlements, trading routes, and shrine centers east of Accra, developed a rich visual culture shaped by interactions among Ga, Dangme, Akan, and Ewe-speaking populations. Sculptural production in this region cannot be understood solely through formal analysis, since figures were embedded within complex systems of ritual practice, lineage memory, spiritual mediation, and local political authority. Carved figures wearing loin cloths appear in a variety of shrine and domestic contexts, where clothing itself functioned not merely as ornament but as a marker of social identity, bodily discipline, and ritual propriety.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"858\" data-end=\"1725\"\u003eThe present figure demonstrates the restrained monumentality characteristic of many southern Ghanaian shrine sculptures. The body is rendered with an emphasis on frontal balance and concentrated presence rather than anatomical naturalism. Facial features are often enlarged or stylized in order to intensify the figure’s spiritual efficacy, while the abbreviated treatment of musculature and bodily proportion reflects sculptural conventions prioritizing symbolic clarity over individualized representation. The loin cloth establishes both modesty and status, situating the figure within recognizable social and cultural frameworks. In many Ghanaian sculptural traditions, textiles and wrapped garments signified adulthood, moral order, and participation within community structures; even minimally rendered clothing could therefore carry substantial symbolic weight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1727\" data-end=\"2582\"\u003eAmong Ga-Adangbe communities, carved figures were frequently connected to shrine practices involving tutelary spirits, ancestral powers, healing cults, or protective deities associated with land and sea. Such figures often accumulated libations, pigments, sacrificial matter, and ritual handling over extended periods of use, resulting in surfaces marked by abrasion, darkening, encrustation, and repair. These material traces should be understood as evidence of activation rather than deterioration. The object’s efficacy derived not simply from its carved form but from the ongoing ritual relationships maintained around it. As in many West African religious systems, the distinction between image and presence remained deliberately unstable: the sculpture functioned simultaneously as representation, receptacle, and participant within ritual exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2584\" data-end=\"3326\"\u003eThe coastal position of Prampram also places such works within broader histories of Atlantic contact and transformation. From the seventeenth century onward, southern Ghana became deeply entangled in European commercial networks, missionary activity, and colonial administration. Nevertheless, local sculptural traditions persisted through adaptation rather than disappearance. Shrine figures continued to be commissioned and used even as imported textiles, Christianity, Islam, and new forms of political authority reshaped coastal society. The coexistence of continuity and change is visible in many twentieth-century Ghanaian sculptures, where older ritual forms intersect with evolving material conditions and regional artistic exchanges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3328\" data-end=\"3920\"\u003eThe relative simplicity of the figure’s attire intensifies the sculptural emphasis on bodily presence. The loin cloth acts as a minimal but crucial visual anchor, distinguishing the represented body from abstraction while preserving the concentrated austerity characteristic of shrine sculpture. Such restraint reflects broader aesthetic values in many West African traditions, where controlled reduction and formal economy often produce heightened expressive force. Rather than functioning as decorative surplus, each carved element contributes to the figure’s ritual and symbolic coherence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3642\" data-end=\"3652\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eReferences\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3642\" data-end=\"3652\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eJaenicke-Njoya Archive CAB49506\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3934\" data-end=\"4060\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eHerbert M. Cole and Doran H. Ross, The Arts of Ghana, University of California, Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, 1977.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4062\" data-end=\"4163\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eMarion Kilson, Kpele Lala: Ga Religious Songs and Symbols, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1971.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4165\" data-end=\"4259\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eRobert Sutherland Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, Oxford University Press, London, 1927.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4261\" data-end=\"4382\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnid Schildkrout and Curtis A. Keim, African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1990.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4384\" data-end=\"4512\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWyatt MacGaffey, Religion and Society in Central Africa: The BaKongo of Lower Zaire, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4514\" data-end=\"4639\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eLabelle Prussin, African Nomadic Architecture: Space, Place and Gender, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1995.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4641\" data-end=\"4729\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eGhana Museums and Monuments Board, consulted 2026.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4310\" data-end=\"4398\"\u003eHeight: 89 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 2,6 kg (incl stand)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54496676348227,"sku":"CAB49506","price":500.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB49506.jpg?v=1779385763"},{"product_id":"a-fragmentary-plaque","title":"A fragmentary plaque","description":"\u003cp\u003eA fragmentary plaque in the style of Benin, Nigeria, depicting a Portuguese figure holding a flintlock firearm, with a sword at his waist, dressed in the manner of a sixteenth-century Portuguese warrior. The four sides are bordered by “rosettes” adjacent to mounting holes. The plaque displays a multilayered, naturally developed patina; see enlargements at the end of the image sequence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"459\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe depictions of Portuguese warriors on the sixteenth-century bronze plaques of the Kingdom of Benin rank among the earliest visual testimonies of direct encounters between a sub-Saharan courtly state and Europe. Produced at the court of the Oba in Benin City, in what is now Nigeria, they document not only commercial exchange but also a controlled visual appropriation of the foreign within an established courtly iconography.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"461\" data-end=\"1015\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrom the late fifteenth century onward, Benin maintained diplomatic and economic relations with Portugal. The expeditions of Diogo Cão marked the beginning of an intensive phase of coastal contact. Trade included pepper, ivory, and—at a later stage—enslaved people; in return, metals, especially brass in the form of manillas, as well as weapons and textiles, reached West Africa. This imported metal provided the material basis for numerous cast works now collectively known as the Benin Bronzes.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1017\" data-end=\"1553\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe relief plaques, which originally adorned the pillars and walls of the royal palace, functioned as a visual archive of dynastic power. Within this context, the Portuguese figures do not appear in isolation but are integrated into a strictly hierarchical pictorial order. Their presence is therefore not a documentary coincidence but an expression of political significance. The inclusion of European actors within courtly iconography signals the Oba’s claim to inscribe even transoceanic contacts into his sphere of symbolic control.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1555\" data-end=\"2132\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrom a formal-analytical perspective, the Portuguese are identifiable by characteristic attributes: European headgear, puffed sleeves, short doublets, swords, or arquebuses. Physiognomic difference is emphasized through beards and through a particular treatment of the facial surface, such as stippling that suggests lighter skin. These markers are not caricatural but typifying. They establish alterity without depriving the figures of dignity. In many compositions, the Portuguese appear upright, sometimes frontal, sometimes in profile, occupying a visually stable position.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2134\" data-end=\"2569\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eParticularly noteworthy is their recurring association with maritime motifs—fish or other aquatic symbols. This iconographic linkage can be interpreted cosmologically: within Benin courtly thought, the sea was regarded as a source of wealth and supernatural potency. Foreigners arriving from the sea could thus be perceived as bearers of special powers, whose integration into the courtly order further legitimized the Oba’s authority.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2571\" data-end=\"2999\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe plaques are therefore better understood not as ethnographic snapshots but as political image programs. They visualize the Kingdom of Benin’s capacity to incorporate external actors into an existing system of rank, ritual, and meaning. The Portuguese do not appear as conquerors but as elements within a network dominated by the court. Their representation attests both to economic entanglement and to symbolic appropriation.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3001\" data-end=\"3526\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe violent seizure of numerous bronzes during the British expedition of 1897 and their transfer to European museums—among them the British Museum and the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin—has placed the objects within a further historical framework: that of colonial displacement and contemporary restitution debates. Today, they stand not only for early modern globality but also for the asymmetrical violence of the nineteenth century and ongoing efforts toward museological recontextualization.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3528\" data-end=\"3880\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTaken together, the depictions of Portuguese warriors may be read as visual nodes within an early Atlantic world. They point to trade, technology, and diplomacy, while simultaneously attesting to the aesthetic sovereignty of an African court that did not passively record the foreign, but actively shaped and translated it into its own system of order.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3528\" data-end=\"3880\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eDimension: 70 cm \/ 30 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 7 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54511760671043,"sku":"CAB26727","price":1200.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB26727.jpg?v=1779979833"},{"product_id":"this-remarkable-pair-of-prampram-figures","title":"This remarkable pair of Prampram figures","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis remarkable pair of Prampram figures from the southeastern coastal region of Ghana. Both figures stand upright in a rigid frontal position and combine an archaic presence with an unexpectedly modern visual language. Their bodies are radically reduced to angular essentials: elongated arms bent at sharp angles, narrow torsos and highly abstracted heads create an almost architectural tension. The sculptor condensed the human form into a geometric system that is exceptionally rare within the artistic traditions of the Prampram people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe exaggerated limbs and the repetitive rhythm of the body structure give the sculptures an almost mechanical appearance. At the same time, they retain an unmistakable ritual authority. The dark surface patina, shaped by age and handling, reinforces the powerful sculptural character of the pair. Although entirely rooted in West African ritual traditions, the formal abstraction of these figures evokes distant visual parallels to the theatrical constructions of Oskar Schlemmer or the metaphysical imagery of Giorgio de Chirico. These similarities are purely formal; the cultural foundations are fundamentally different.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin the known corpus of Prampram sculpture, this anonymous master occupies a singular position. Few sculptors of this ethnic group developed such an uncompromising and highly individual artistic language. The sculptor transformed the human body into a symbolic structure balanced between abstraction and spiritual presence. Only a small number of works by this master remain in the present Prampram collection, and future field research in the Prampram region may eventually allow the identification of this extraordinary artist by name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Prampram belong culturally and linguistically to the larger Dangme-speaking populations of southeastern Ghana. Together with the Ga peoples, they form part of the Ga-Adangme cultural complex along the Atlantic coast east of Accra. The Prampram, Dangme and Ga share related Kwa languages, religious concepts and historical traditions, while still maintaining distinct local artistic expressions. The sculpture of the Prampram is particularly noted for its linear stylization and expressive reduction of form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis text is created by AI.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJaenicke-Njoya Archive CAB50793\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 34 cm \/ 35 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 300 g \/ 280 g\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54533540708675,"sku":"CAB50793","price":700.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB50793.jpg?v=1780868338"},{"product_id":"lobi-carver-bimtiote-dah","title":"Lobi carver Bimtiote Dah","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmong the relatively small number of named sculptors identified within the vast field of West African so-called “tribal” sculpture, the Lobi carver Bimtiote Dah occupies a singular and still insufficiently studied position. His name emerged gradually through a convergence of field inquiry, stylistic observation, oral testimony, and the growing awareness among collectors and researchers that certain Lobi sculptures displayed a coherence of form too distinctive to be explained merely through anonymous village production. In a corpus traditionally approached through ethnic categories rather than individual authorship, the attribution of works to Bimtiote Dah represented a subtle but important shift toward the recognition of artistic personality within Lobi sculpture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe discovery of the sculptor’s identity is closely connected with the field investigations and archival efforts of collectors and researchers working in the Lobi regions of Burkina Faso and northern Côte d’Ivoire during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The name itself surfaced through oral testimony preserved by local informants, most importantly Binate Kambou, who played a decisive role in identifying workshops, tracing stylistic lineages, and preserving memories of sculptors whose names would otherwise likely have disappeared. Kambou belonged to that diminishing generation of local mediators whose knowledge bridged ritual practice, village history, and the expanding international interest in African sculpture. His testimony linked a number of highly characteristic bateba figures to a sculptor originating from the vicinity of Bouna and active near Sansana south of Gaoua. (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/Ci107\/pages\/P8298488.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" title=\"P8298488\"\u003ejaenicke-njoya.com\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to these accounts, Bimtiote Dah appears to have lived approximately between the 1920s and the early 1990s. He worked in a region historically marked by movement across present-day borders between Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, a frontier zone in which Lobi, Dagara, Birifor, and related communities maintained fluid cultural exchanges. The sculptor’s workshop is said to have enjoyed considerable local renown during his lifetime, although this fame remained largely invisible to the outside world. Unlike court artists in centralized African kingdoms, Lobi sculptors generally operated within decentralized ritual systems. Their sculptures were not conceived as autonomous art objects but as spiritually charged presences commissioned through divinatory instruction and embedded within the architecture of household shrines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recognition of Bimtiote Dah as an identifiable artistic hand emerged retrospectively through stylistic comparison. Certain sculptures associated with him display a striking formal consistency: elongated torsos, tense frontal compositions, compact heads, restrained facial definition, and a curious balance between monumentality and instability. Many works attributed to him possess subtle asymmetries and structural tensions that distinguish them from more formulaic workshop production. These qualities led some observers to speak of a distinctive “Bimtiote Dah style,” although such terminology remains necessarily provisional in the absence of signed works or extensive documentary evidence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe discussion surrounding his oeuvre gained wider visibility through posts and exchanges published on the Blogspot platform associated with Paul Howlett and related tribal art forums, where debates concerning attribution, workshop identities, and “master hands” in African sculpture became increasingly prominent during the early 2000s. These online discussions formed part of a broader transformation in the discourse of African art, moving away from purely ethnic classifications toward more nuanced considerations of regional ateliers and individual sculptural personalities. The case of Bimtiote Dah became especially compelling because it rested not solely upon connoisseurship in the Western sense, but upon local oral confirmation transmitted through figures such as Binate Kambou and later reportedly corroborated by the sculptor’s son, himself active as a ritual specialist near Sansana. (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/jaenicke-njoya.com\/Ci107\/pages\/P8298488.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" title=\"P8298488\"\u003ejaenicke-njoya.com\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes this history particularly revealing is the fragile nature of such discoveries. Knowledge about sculptors in Lobi society was never systematically archived. Names circulated orally, often within restricted ritual contexts, and many disappeared within a single generation. The rediscovery of Bimtiote Dah therefore illuminates not only one sculptor but also the conditions under which African artistic authorship survives or vanishes. It demonstrates how attribution in African art often depends upon precarious chains of memory involving interpreters, traders, ritual specialists, descendants, collectors, and field researchers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the same time, the figure of Binate Kambou occupies an ambiguous and historically fascinating position within this process. Informants of his type were indispensable for the reconstruction of local artistic histories, yet they also operated within economies shaped by tourism, collecting, and the international art market. As later discussions concerning authenticity and workshop production in the Lobi region suggest, the boundaries between documentation, interpretation, reconstruction, and commercial mediation were not always entirely stable. Nevertheless, without such intermediaries, the name of Bimtiote Dah would almost certainly have remained unknown outside his immediate region. (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/djiboul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Tire-a-part_24.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" title=\"Les arts lobi et dagara à l’épreuve de la colonisation :\"\u003eRevue des Arts et Sciences Sociales\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe attribution of sculptures to Bimtiote Dah also intersects with a larger historiographic question concerning individuality in African art. For much of the twentieth century, African sculpture was interpreted through collective categories: “the Lobi,” “the Baule,” “the Dogon.” The identification of artists such as Bimtiote Dah complicates this framework by revealing that strong artistic individuality could emerge even within ritual systems that did not privilege personal authorship in the Western sense. The sculptor’s oeuvre suggests not an isolated genius detached from tradition, but rather a master operating within inherited formal constraints while subtly transforming them through personal invention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday, works attributed to Bimtiote Dah circulate within private collections, galleries, auctions, and scholarly discussions as rare examples of named authorship within Lobi sculpture. Yet his importance lies not merely in market recognition or attributional prestige. Rather, his rediscovery has become emblematic of a broader attempt to restore historical depth and artistic specificity to African sculpture, acknowledging that behind many works long treated as anonymous ethnographic artifacts stood individual makers whose names, biographies, and creative decisions once mattered deeply within their own societies. (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.proantic.com\/en\/1623856-bateba.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" title=\"Proantic: Bateba\"\u003eproantic.com\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5629\" data-end=\"6285\"\u003eProvenance: \u003cbr\u003eRainer Greschik-Callection, Berlin\u003cbr\u003eExhibited: Lobi Exhibition Wittenberg, Germany\u003cbr\u003eB ogspot: Eindrücke von einer Ausstellung - Die Sammlung Greschik in Wittenberg\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5629\" data-end=\"6285\"\u003ePublished: Museum der Städtischen Sammlungen, Wittenberg\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJaenicke-Njoya Archive CAB49527\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 77 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 5,4 kg (incl stand)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54533556076867,"sku":"CAB49527","price":1800.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB49527.jpg?v=1780869585"},{"product_id":"a-mumuye-shoulder-mask-1","title":"A Mumuye shoulder mask","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"544\"\u003eA Mumuye shoulder mask, North-East region, along the Benue River Taraba State, Djalingo village, Nigeria.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"544\"\u003eThis shoulder mask (masque d’épaule) is attributed to Mumuye sculptural traditions from northeastern Nigeria, in the upper Benue River region of present-day Taraba State, with Djalingo among the communities associated with such forms. Mumuye “shoulder masks” are part of a broader sculptural repertoire that includes figurative works used in ritual, healing, and social regulation contexts, though their precise functions remain partly opaque due to limited early ethnographic documentation and the esoteric nature of many associated practices.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"546\" data-end=\"1093\"\u003eUnlike face masks worn in front of the face, shoulder masks are designed to be supported on or above the wearer’s shoulders, creating a composite figure in which human body and sculpted form merge into a single ritual presence. This configuration transforms the performer into an embodied support structure, while the carved element projects an intensified, enlarged identity visible during ritual movement or performance. The resulting effect is not naturalistic representation but a heightened, hybrid presence operating within ceremonial space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1095\" data-end=\"1563\"\u003eThe hairstyle described as resembling a rooster’s comb (Hahnenkamm) is a striking and recurring motif in Mumuye sculpture. Such crest-like coiffures emphasize verticality and directional energy, often suggesting vitality, alertness, or spiritual potency. The head in Mumuye figural traditions is typically a focal point of expressive abstraction, and elaborated hair forms serve to extend the silhouette upward, reinforcing the sense of elevation and charged presence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1565\" data-end=\"2114\"\u003eThe rounded ears contribute to a balanced formal symmetry and may also relate to the emphasis on sensory openness or attentiveness in sculptural representation. Mumuye figures are generally characterized by a synthesis of geometric clarity and expressive exaggeration, with elongated bodies, simplified limbs, and carefully structured volumes that produce a strong vertical and rhythmic composition. Even when naturalistic references are present, they are subordinated to an overarching sculptural logic of balance, tension, and stylized proportion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2116\" data-end=\"2671\"\u003eIn Mumuye ritual contexts, sculpture is often associated with healing practices and the mediation of unseen forces affecting health and social harmony. Figures and masks may be activated through interaction with ritual specialists, used in therapeutic or protective settings, or integrated into broader systems of spiritual negotiation. The shoulder mask format intensifies this role by directly incorporating the human body into the object’s function, reinforcing the idea that power is not external to the body but mediated through embodied performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2673\" data-end=\"3289\"\u003eThe Benue River corridor, including Taraba State, is one of the most diverse sculptural regions in West Africa, with interrelated traditions among Mumuye, Chamba, Jukun, and other groups. Within this environment, sculptural forms often share structural tendencies—elongation, abstraction, and emphasis on the head—while maintaining distinct local identities. The present mask, with its crest-like coiffure and rounded ears, exemplifies the Mumuye preference for dynamic vertical form and concentrated formal expression, where bodily exaggeration serves as a vehicle for ritual presence rather than natural depiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3291\" data-end=\"3301\"\u003eReferences\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3291\" data-end=\"3301\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eJaenicke-Njoya Archive CAB50547\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3303\" data-end=\"3385\"\u003eFagg, William. \u003cem data-start=\"3318\" data-end=\"3351\"\u003eTribes and Forms in African Art\u003c\/em\u003e. London: Thames and Hudson, 1965.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3387\" data-end=\"3534\"\u003eFardon, Richard. \u003cem data-start=\"3404\" data-end=\"3488\"\u003eBetween God, the Dead and the Wild: Chamba Interpretations of Ritual and Landscape\u003c\/em\u003e. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1990.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3536\" data-end=\"3624\"\u003eKirk-Greene, A. H. M. \u003cem data-start=\"3558\" data-end=\"3584\"\u003eAdamawa Past and Present\u003c\/em\u003e. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1958.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3626\" data-end=\"3746\"\u003eRubin, Arnold. \u003cem data-start=\"3641\" data-end=\"3672\"\u003eArts of the Upper Benue River\u003c\/em\u003e. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, University of California, 1984.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3748\" data-end=\"3848\"\u003eSieber, Roy, and Arnold Rubin. \u003cem data-start=\"3779\" data-end=\"3806\"\u003eSculpture of Black Africa\u003c\/em\u003e. New York: Museum of Primitive Art, 1968.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis description is made with AI. Despite careful individual review, the use of Artificial Intelligence may result in errors or inaccuracies in the description.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCAB50547\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 73 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 5,4 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54533585404227,"sku":"CAB50547","price":600.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB50547_f79c2e85-104c-4b85-a00c-593119a3685d.jpg?v=1780870758"},{"product_id":"this-benin-plaque-depicts","title":"This Benin plaque depicts","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis Benin plaque depicts a classical representation of an Oba riding on horseback, accompanied by two attendants and a small figure positioned in the lower left corner. The scene does not appear to represent a military procession, but rather the mounted Oba being accompanied on a bird hunt. This interpretation is reinforced by the small figure at the lower left, who is shown carrying a trained bird perched upon a stand, suggesting the presence of courtly falconry or ritual hunting practices associated with royal authority.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom an art historical perspective, the plaque appears to illustrate an important transitional phase in the development of Benin court bronzes, namely the shift from shallow flat relief toward increasingly sculptural high relief compositions. The horse already displays a pronounced sense of three-dimensionality, particularly in the modeling of the head, chest, and legs, while the accompanying figures still remain largely tied to the conventions of flatter relief carving. Only in later plaques do the attendants themselves emerge more forcefully into the foreground, acquiring the same volumetric presence as the central royal figure and his horse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis gradual transformation reveals how Benin artists continuously expanded the spatial and sculptural possibilities of court representation. Rather than remaining static, the bronze workshops of the royal court developed increasingly sophisticated methods of modeling depth, hierarchy, and movement within the restricted format of the rectangular plaque. The juxtaposition between the more volumetric horse and the comparatively flattened attendants therefore provides valuable insight into the internal chronology of Benin bronze casting traditions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuestions surrounding this stylistic evolution have been discussed in particular detail by Kathrin Wysocki Gunsch in her studies on Benin art, The Benin Plaques: A 16th Century Imperial Monument, where she examined the formal transition from linear relief structures toward the highly plastic narrative compositions of the later court plaques.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"326\"\u003eThe plaque is relatively well preserved and shows a multilayered, naturally developed patina, which distinguishes it from more recent or modern examples. The surface build-up reflects long-term aging processes as well as prolonged exposure within an active historical context, rather than artificial or accelerated patination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"328\" data-end=\"678\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eCondition report: Breakages are visible at all four corners, likely resulting from its original method of attachment. These perforations suggest that the plaque was once fixed to palace columns or architectural posts, in accordance with the installation practice of Benin court reliefs, where plaques were mounted to structure the visual program of royal architecture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"308\" data-end=\"537\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ePhilip J. C. Dark, 1973, An Introduction to Benin Art and Technology, Oxford University Press.\u003cbr data-start=\"402\" data-end=\"405\"\u003e(Foundational study on bronze casting, court iconography, and workshop organization; discusses plaques as architectural decoration.)\u003cbr\u003ePaula Ben-Amos, 1995, The Art of Benin, British Museum Press.\u003cbr data-start=\"600\" data-end=\"603\"\u003e(Standard reference for Benin court imagery, including royal processions, attendants, and symbolic roles of figures.)\u003cbr\u003eBarbara Plankensteiner (ed.), 2007, Benin: Kings and Rituals. Court Arts from Nigeria, Snoeck \/ Museum für Völkerkunde Wien.\u003cbr data-start=\"846\" data-end=\"849\"\u003e(Extensive catalogue; key reference for iconography, court life, and interpretations of plaques including mounted figures and attendants.)\u003cbr\u003eNigel Barley, 2010, The Art of Benin, British Museum Press.\u003cbr data-start=\"1048\" data-end=\"1051\"\u003e(Discusses iconography, stylistic development, and the narrative structure of plaques.)\u003cbr\u003eHorsemen, Oba iconography, and court representation\u003cbr\u003ePhilip J. C. Dark, 1975, “Benin Bronze Plaques: A Reappraisal”, African Arts.\u003cbr data-start=\"1270\" data-end=\"1273\"\u003e(Important for interpreting royal figures, regalia, and compositional reading of plaques.)\u003cbr\u003eKathryn Wysocki Gunsch, 2017, The Benin Plaques: A 16th Century Imperial Monument, Routledge.\u003cbr data-start=\"1458\" data-end=\"1461\"\u003e(Core reference for your argument about compositional development, hierarchy, and the architectural system of plaques.)\u003cbr\u003ePaula Ben-Amos, 1995, The Art of Benin, British Museum\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis description is made with AI. Despite careful individual review, the use of Artificial Intelligence may result in errors or inaccuracies in the description.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1619\" data-end=\"1799\"\u003eJaenicke-Njoya Archive CAB49851\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1619\" data-end=\"1799\"\u003eHeight: 47 cm\u003cbr\u003eWidth: 39 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 9,3 kg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54533601624387,"sku":"CAB49851","price":1200.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB49851.jpg?v=1780871108"},{"product_id":"this-group-of-prampram-figurines","title":"This group of Prampram figurines","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis group of Prampram figurines from the southern coastal region of Ghana belongs to the figurative traditions that arose along the trade and contact zones between Ga, Dangme, and Ewe societies. Such sculptures combined ancestral representation, protective function, and social identity, and were characterized by a highly abstracted formal language that visualized spiritual presence rather than individual physiognomy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two standing figures exhibit the characteristic Prampram typology with rounded heads, pointed limbs, and highly simplified facial features. Eyes, ears, mouth, and nipples appear as perforated openings, rhythmically structuring the figures' surfaces and simultaneously creating an impression of inner permeability. The long, narrow nose, which vertically divides the face, is particularly striking, while the circularly open mouth conveys a quiet, almost incantatory expressiveness. The central perforated line along the body reinforces this impression of ritualized order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe differing postures of the two figures—the larger left figure with its emphasized chest and the right figure wearing a textile loincloth—suggest a gendered or social complementarity. The horizontal incisions covering the bodies give the figures an almost textile-like surface texture and demonstrate a high degree of ornamental sensitivity. The light patina indicates prolonged cultic use and repeated ritual treatment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiterature (Selection)\u003cbr\u003eJaenicke-Njoya archive CAB49275\u003cbr\u003eCole, Herbert M. \/ Ross, Doran H.: The Arts of Ghana. Los Angeles 1977.\u003cbr\u003eRoss, Doran H.: Art at the Crossroads: The Continent and the Diaspora. Gainesville 2013.\u003cbr\u003eBlier, Suzanne Preston: African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power. Chicago 1995.\u003cbr\u003eGarrard, Timothy F.: Akan Weights and the Gold Trade. London 1980.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis description is made with AI. Despite careful individual review, the use of Artificial Intelligence may result in errors or inaccuracies in the description.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCAB49275\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeight: 45 cm \/ 51 cm\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 1,1 kg \/ 1,2 kg (incl stand)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54533617287491,"sku":"CAB49275","price":700.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/files\/CAB49275.jpg?v=1780871399"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0631\/3797\/2463\/collections\/CAB07313_2facf3f9-6ee2-4ff5-930f-0430d71e2723.jpg?v=1780872394","url":"https:\/\/wolfgang-jaenicke.com\/collections\/after-auction-sale.oembed","provider":"Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke","version":"1.0","type":"link"}