Exhibitors Bryan Reeves - UK Cordelia Donohoe - UK David MalĂk - UK Emmanuel Ameloot - Belgium Frans Faber - Netherlands Ian Shaw - UK Kenn MacKay - UK Kezhia Orege - UK Mark Eglinton - USA
Rob Temple - Belgium Sam Handbury Madin - UK Tom Hurst - UK
Introduction Nature is slowly receding as humans, technology and industrialisation dominate the world. Most of us will hardly ever see a wild mammal, apart from on television, and currently only 4% of mammals in the world are wild. However, at one time wild animals surrounded us and were a core influence on people’s lives. Spirit Animals explores the relationship between man and beast and the expansive use of animal form in rituals and culture.
In western culture we enjoy humanising our animals, YouTube is full of videos of animals behaving like humans, sitting on chairs, “speaking� and dressed up in human outfits. However, in the early rituals of many cultures across the world it was the innate behaviour of animals that was seen as beneficial for humans to mimic rather than vice versa. The snake sheds its skin, reborn and living on forever; rams butt heads while fighting for a mate and are represented in art conveying masculinity and fertility.
The pieces on offer are beautiful, imaginative and often full of humour. Selected by top specialist each piece is authentic, unique and many have impressive provenances. We hope you enjoy this collection of works as much as we have enjoyed bringing them together.
BRYAN REEVES
UNITED KINGDOM
www.tribalgatheringlondon.com art@tribalgatheringlondon.com
Fine bronze porcupine. Benin. Nigeria. 19th century. Ex private collection UK. L - 22 cm
CORDELIA DONOHOE
UNITED KINGDOM azulcord@gmail.com www.azultribe.com
Dan Gägon (Bird Mask) Ivory coast Mid 20th C Supplied with stand Height w/o stand 11 ins/28 cms £550
D A V I D M A L Ă? K
Bush cow mask Grasslands Cameroon 63.5 cm Wood
UNITED KINGDOM david@davidmalikarts.com www.davidmalikarts.com
Provenance: - Harry A. Franklin (1904-1983), Los Angeles, USA Publication: - Northern, T., "Expressions of Cameroon Art, The Franklin Collection", Los Angeles, 1986: #56
EMMANUEL AMELOOT
BELGIUM emmanuel.ameloot@gmail.com
Bamana, Mali Boli fetish wood, libation crust, mirror fragments L. 19 cm / H. 11,5 cm POA
FRANS FABER
NETHERLANDS fj.faber@planet.nl www.fransfaber.com
Jamasj, shield Northwest Asmat, West Papua Wood, natural pigment, lime Height: 165 cm, width: 48 cm Collected in 1950 in situ Price: £ 6500
IAN SHAW
UNITED KINGDOM i.shaw42@yahoo.com www.tribalartsandtextiles.com
This is a fine old Bamana Rabbit mask. late 19th / early 20th Century. In fine condition no cracks or repairs with original fibre adornment. Danced at fertility rites. ex English collection . POA
KENN MACKAY
UNITED KINGDOM info@tribalartantiques.com www.tribalartantiques.com
Rare Tibetan Chaang Vessel, Elephant Ivory and silver gilt Height 23 cm Period: 19th century POR
KEZHIA OREGE
UNITED KINGDOM kezfields@gmail.com www.kezhiafields.com
Amhara shield Ethiopia H 22 cm X W 41 cm £650
MARK EGLINTON
USA
m1eglinton@aol.com
Baule Goli kple kple Ivory Coast Zoomorphic Wood and natural pigments 50cm Private collection, France Ex Marceau Riviere collection, Paris
ROB TEMPLE
BELGIUM info@robtemple.com www.robtemple.com
Ashanti figurative gold weights 18th and 19th Century Ghana Sold individually or as a group
SAM HANDBURY MADIN
UNITED KINGDOM handburytribalart@gmail.com www.handburytribalart.com
Crocodile vessel & lid Lozi - Zambia Early / Mid 20th Century In good condition with loss to the end of the tail & some wear to the base 15 cm high x 24.5 cm wide Ex UK private collection
TOM HURST
UNITED KINGDOM tomhurstantiques@gmail.com www.totallyoriginalmerchandise.com
Elema drum Papuan Gulf, Papua New Guinea Late 19th C 72cm long £2750
An introduction to new book, The Stars are Eyes, by Marc Assayag.
The Stars are Eyes, via the art of the Abelam, introduces the reader to the notion that human vision is a belief-driven, socially conditioned sense. In addition to presenting compelling visual evidence of this idea, the thesis proposes that vision is programmed by one's specific beliefs within one's social environment. It suggests that if one is not taught or 'programmed' to believe in something, one may overlook it, no matter how evident it may be. The opposite is also true, and is a more recognized phenomenon: If someone believes in something strongly enough, they may have visions of seeing it whether it exists or not. Given the evidence provided, the reality seems to be that just as misinterpretation / mistranslation can occur with the spoken word, it can also happen in the visual domain. The Stars are Eyes proposes that this may have been the case in Papua New Guinea, especially among the Abelam, during the 1960's, during the period of first anthropological contact.
When Anthony Forge worked among the Abelam, he attempted to extract information on the meaning of the shapes and designs that the people produced in their art works. In this case, however, he had encountered a people who didn't have the habit of providing explanations for such things. After years of attempting to understand it, he resigned himself to defining the art of the Abelam as a form of visual language, a language that one could understand only if they were born into it and had learned its meaning via usage and experience. In a sense he was right. Just as we live with the knowledge of the colour blue, we really have no words for describing it to someone else who isn't from our 'environment'. To us, blue is simply blue.
In fact, with the Abelam, Forge had encountered a people who seemed to relate culturally to their art the way we do to a colour. The lack of exegesis he ascribed to them about it was correct, even if his reason for ascribing it to them was not. That debate aside, it simply appears that, among the Abelam, art was only ever meant to be experienced, not explained in words. In hindsight, it becomes very surprising that, given such a context, Forge attempted to understand local culture by hiring artists and giving them something they had never seen via which to express themselves: a white canvas. Not only was this a medium that would have been unknown to the locals at the time, it presented a dimension never considered and presumably never even conceived by them before. Indeed, upon forensic examination of the situation, the very concept of two-dimensional planes, and even the premise upon which they exist, is a purely western construct – and one that never existed in a forest setting where the organic world presents very little in the way of plane geometry.
In that simple and almost eager action, Forge unknowingly sealed his own fate for ever understanding the Abelam from their point of view. By handing them a two-dimensional medium he imposed on them his own visual structure and system of artistic belief. Sadly thereafter, no matter the content they provided, he could only ever judge it within the confines of his own formatted vision. Contrary to Forge, before him stood a people who, it must be presumed, had a unique way of viewing the world. Theirs was an organic universe; one filled with spirits that were completely invisible to 'us', one in which the concept of 'up and down' was clearly experienced, but where such concepts required no explanation. Given this premise, it becomes unreasonable to apply (or impose) the concept of direction, the way we understand it, on the art of animist cultures. It may not have applied to their art at all. Theirs was a world of three-dimensional reality, upon which was layered another dimension, as true to them as twodimensional thought is to us: the dimension of the spirit; a spirit that was everywhere. Selected to demonstrate this thesis visually, the masks of the Abelam provide a large enough corpus to make the conversation substantial. Indeed, when observed from different angles, angles where spirits reside, we find remarkable imagery in objects that were previously thought to have only one face.
From ancestral visages and skulls to totemic animals, the magic of Abelam graphics is finally revealed after six decades of visual mis- (or uni) direction. Moreover, underlying these multifaceted fabrications, one can only wonder at the genius of the makers, for their ability to see and, especially, to engineer such objects. Lastly, one must also imagine the wonder that these creations must have elicited in their time and place. Appearing at dusk or dawn, never static or under full light, the masks were danced in twists and turns that revealed different spirits. Indeed it must have been pure magic.
To buy The Stars are Eyes, "A New Perspective on the Art of Abelam" by Marc Assayag visit www.thestarsareeyes.com
The snake: creator and protector.
The snake is a primordial symbol found in one form or another in cultures from around the world. Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tale, originally seen in Egyptian iconography signifies the circle of life and eternity. To other cultures the snake represents the creator. In Australia, Rainbow Serpent stories are core to Aboriginal culture and are displayed on a range of Aboriginal ritual objects and paintings. Although stories vary between different Aboriginal groups, there is a general belief of the Serpent as creator, bringing life where there was nothing. Similarly, the Mayan god Quetzalcoatl, the creator, is also represented by the snake. Alternatively, in Hinduism the snake is seen as a form of divine feminine energy known as kundalini, which means “the coiled one�. The association of snakes with water is seen in multiple societies. In Benin culture, the python and the crocodile were associated with the realm of Olokun, lord of the great waters. Large bronze pythons were once mounted on the gates to Benin city, as the king of all snakes it was a relevant symbol to this great kingdom. The Bansonyi mask, or Baga snake, is used to protects males at circumcision and also represents the overlap of water and land. It is also used as a unifying symbol. This Guinean mask is an upright sculpture worn as a headdress with raffia hanging from the frame to disguise the body. Baga snake headpieces can be up to 260 cm high and difficult to manoeuvre. Young men train with the headrest from a young age to perfect the ritual dance. The dance is erratic and becomes more frantic as cheers from onlooking crowds energise the dancer. Recently a Baga Snake sold at Christies for over 2 million Euros.
Baga "bansonyi" Snake from the Republic of Guinea, sold at Christie's for EUR 2,337,500 in 2013. Image Copyright Christie's
Another recurring theme in indigenous mythology is of the snake as protector. Unlike the harmful or negative omen it is often perceived as in western culture. In the Philippines the snake is seen as a mother figure who protects and cares for men.
An Ifugao or Batak pipe. Philippines or Indonesia 19cm high. Provenance: Ex Trevor Barton Pipe Collection Image courtesy Tom Hurst.
In multiple African societies snakes were welcome into sacred sites where they were cared for and fed. In Burkina Faso the snake is incorporated into jewellery and ritual masks. The great serpent masks that appear in Dossi, Boni, and Pa, in central Burkina Faso commemorates an encounter between an ancestor and the great serpent of the wilderness near Boni. The ancestor was part of a party sent out to another village to capture women, on arrival they were ambushed by waiting villagers and fled, showered by arrows. The ancestor came across a great serpent and asked for his help in hiding him, the serpent obliged and even fed the him animals it had killed. When the ancestor returned to his village and discussed his experience it was understood that the serpent was the embodiment of a protective spirit and a mask would be made to celebrate and thank the spirit. Akan Gold Weights from Ghana often depict aesopic scenes; a hornbill caught by a snake, for example, is an emblem of patience, since the snake has to await the bird’s landing. The doubled headed snake is also commonly seen as a Gold Weight. Pendant, chest ornament from Lobi, Burkina Faso Bronze, 19th century, image courtesy of Frans Faber.
Ashanti figurative gold weights from Ghana, 18th and 19th Century, image courtesy of Rob Temple.
The animals depicted in ritual objects tend to be chosen for their transformative qualities, it is therefore not surprising that the snake appears with such regularity. Its habit of shedding its own skin is one surely one of the most universal signifiers of transformation.
Chimu Stirrup Vessel circa 1200-1400 ad Peru, image courtesy of Kenn Mackay.
19th Century Snake Skin Songye Axe from Songye, DR Congo, image courtesy of Sam Handbury - Madin.
A fine Royal Ashante food tasters spoon with snake wrapped around the handle, 19th century, image courtesy of Ian Shaw.
References:
Ilekun, Mid Century, three door panels from Nupe people, Nigeria, image courtesy of Frans Faber.
Roberts, A., 1995. Animals In African Art. Prestel. Hambly, W., 1929. The Serpent In African Belief And Custom. American Anthropologist, 31(4), pp.655-666. Africa.uima.uiowa.edu. 2020. Signs And Symbols In African Art: Graphic Patterns In Burkina Faso - Art & Life In Africa - The University Of Iowa Museum Of Art. [online] Available at: <https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/38?start=14> [Accessed 26 November 2020]. ResearchGate. 2020. (PDF) Symbolic Representation And Socio-Cultural Significance Of Selected Akan Proverbs In Ghana. [online] Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/289250766_Symbolic_Representation_And_SocioCultural_Significance_Of_Selected_Akan_Proverbs_In_Ghana> [Accessed 26 November 2020]. file:///Users/user/Downloads/187378-Article%20Text-476208-1-10-20190610.pdf
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