Timbuktu to Kathmandu - Bead Gallery & Tribal Art. Artifacts from Africa, India and the Himalaya

Sunshine Coast Bead Gallery and Tribal Art

These notes are drawn from several good references (indicated) and my own observations and research in West Africa.

I have made special mention of the Baule tribe because their material art, masks, figures, doors and utilitarian items represent an excellent cross section of West African style. The Baule have an extraordinary diversity when it comes to carving masks and figures in wood. They express themselves with form and colour; have elaborate coiffure and sacrificial scaring as a feature. They carve small delicate pieces and large plank masks. 'With their great sense of stylization and attention to detail, they have produced some of the most elegant objects of all Africa Art' Ref.1.

'The Baule represent one of the most important tribes of the Ivory Coast. Their name is testimony to their birth - according to legend, Queen Aba Pokou led her people on an exodus towards the gold mining areas during the 18 th century and had to cross a river where she was obliged to sacrifice her son to the river god, thus giving her people the name Bauli, 'the son is dead'.

During the 19 th century, the Queendom disintegrated due to internal conflicts and by the beginning of the 20 th century, when the French colonialists arrived; they found only a network of villages, headed by councils of venerated men'. Ref.2.

'The Baule people use three major types of masks; the helmet mask usually in the shape of a buffalo head, the second represents a human face with rounded fairly realistic features; and the third type includes masks related to the Goli festival'. Ref.3.

The masks all originally had specific uses connected with fertility, harvest, and the warding off of evil. Contemporary usage is now for general protection of villages and festivities. The specifics of each marking and feature are too many and varied to cover here. For the avid researcher I recommend 'The Tribal Arts of Africa' (see our recommended reading list) for a detailed and interesting source of information.

Ref.1.2.3. 'The Tribal Arts of Africa' page 48 , Pub, Thames and Hudson

The mask displayed on this page is a fine example of Baule carving. The mask is carved using a series of curves; eyebrows curve beautifully into the nose, the small elliptical mouth projects slightly almost in anticipation of speech and the central forehead has sacrificial scaring. This mask is for sale $290.00.

TIMBUKTU TO KATHMANDU