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The Niger Bend

A Selection of Our Best Items

Wood statues

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$595.00

Agere divination bowl
photo of Agere divination bowl item #1373
Nigeria - Yoruba

13 1/2" (34 cm) This is the container in which the palm nuts used in the Ifa divination ceremony are stored.
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$595.00

Agere divination bowl
photo of Agere divination bowl item #1374
Nigeria - Yoruba

18" (46 cm) This is the container in which the palm nuts used in the Ifa divination ceremony are stored.
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$250.00

Agere divination bowl, small
photo of Agere divination bowl, small item #1375
Nigeria - Yoruba

8 3/4" (22 cm) This is the container in which the palm nuts used in the Ifa divination ceremony are stored.
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$250.00

Agere divination bowl, small
photo of Agere divination bowl, small item #1376
Nigeria - Yoruba

10 1/4" (26 cm) This is the container in which the palm nuts used in the Ifa divination ceremony are stored.
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$250.00

Aguere - Bird & Snake
photo of Aguere - Bird & Snake item #1650
Nigeria - Yoruba

13 1/2" (34 cm) This is the container in which the palm nuts used in the Ifa divination ceremony are stored.
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$4000.00

Aguere - Chicken
photo of Aguere - Chicken item #1742
Nigeria - Yoruba

14 1/8" tall (36 cm)
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$125.00

Ancestor Figure
photo of Ancestor Figure item #677
Ghana - Ewe

9 3/4" tall (25 cm )
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$95.00

Ancestor Figure
photo of Ancestor Figure item #1626
Ghana - Ewe

12" (30 cm)
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$495.00

Beautiful woman figure
photo of Beautiful woman figure item #1745
Ivory Coast - Baule

10 7/8" tall (28 cm)
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$750.00

Chicken on turtle
photo of Chicken on turtle item #300
Burkina Faso - unknown tribe

16 1/4" tall (41 cm)
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$750.00

Divination oracle
photo of Divination oracle item #95
Nigeria - Orobo


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$175.00

Elephant fetish figure
photo of Elephant fetish figure item #117
Ivory Coast - Baule

6" tall (15.2 cm) Authentic, old, used. Not made for sale to foreigners.
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$400.00

Elephant fetish figure
photo of Elephant fetish figure item #304
Ivory Coast - Baule

10 x 6" (25.4 x 15.2 cm) Authentic, old, used. Not made for sale to foreigners. The flat top of this object implies something of spiritual/ritual use was placed on top of it.
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$2500.00

Equestrian warrior
photo of Equestrian warrior item #949
Nigeria - Yoruba

20 3/4 x 14 x 43 1/2" tall (53 x 35 x 110 cm)
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$350.00

Female head on basketry base
photo of Female head on basketry base item #793
Gabon - Fang

13" tall (33 cm)
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$450.00

Fetish animal figure
photo of Fetish animal figure item #795
Ivory Coast - Baule

10" (25 cm). Please click on the image for a view of the other side and a closeup of this fine old, authentic wood figure.
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$500.00

Fetish figure
photo of Fetish figure item #461
Togo - Ewe

This figure measures 11 1/4" tall. This figure was probably carved as a fetish. Please click on the image for a view of the side of this very unusual figure.
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$600.00

Finest old protective figure
photo of Finest old protective figure item #667
Togo - Moba

26" tall. Please click on the image for views of 2 more sides of this exceptional, genuine figure.
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$900.00

Male figure
photo of Male figure item #258
Ivory Coast - Baule

18" (46 cm)
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$1750.00

Male spirit mate
photo of Male spirit mate item #262
Ivory Coast - Baule

13" tall, from Lepe, circa 1910. Click on photo for closeup.
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$950.00

Man of Africa
photo of Man of Africa item #446
Ghana - Ashanti

This is an extraordinary carved wood map of Africa featuring the likeness of the first president and Father of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. This was undoubtedly carved as an hommage to him sometime around the time of Ghanaian independence which occured in 1957. The words "Man of Africa" are etched to the left of the head and the words "Dr. Kwame Nkrumah" are etched in the base of the piece though they have been largely worn away over the years. The height is 31 1/2" (80 cm) and the width from the westernmost tip to the easternmost tip of the continent is 23 1/2" (60 cm).
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$500.00

Mouse oracle
photo of Mouse oracle item #254
Ivory Coast - Baule

16" tall (41 cm).

Many, if not all, African societies incorporate some means of divination into their daily lives. Most Africans believe it is not only possible and reasonable but indispensable to know the future impact of any decision taken in the present in order to determine its advisability. This is accomplished through many techniques; each tribe has its own. The Baule of Ivory Coast use the Gbekre, aka mouse oracle or mouse box, among other methodologies.

Oral traditions among the people of the Baule region, including the Yaure and Guro, who may have initiated the practice of mouse divination, indicate that a long time ago mice could speak. As they commonly live in the ground in the forest surrounding the village mice are in close contact with the asye usu, the forest spirits, which see and know all and which, in turn, live closely to the ancestors. Divination experts, those with specialization in all spiritual matters, brought mice into the village to live in captivity. In many African societies animals are believed to have innate insight into the human experience.

Specialists spend years in training: they learn to compensate the divinities and the oracle for the enlightenment it provides, to ensure that they will remain favorably disposed and they learn to prepare medications and to interpret a vocabulary of visual signs.

There are several ways in which those signs may be generated. In all variations the mouse is placed in the lower chamber of the oracle. One variation is that corn kernels are placed in the upper chamber of the oracle and covered. A yes or no question is asked and if the mouse eats the corn in the time allotted, then the response to the question is affirmative. On the contrary the response is negative. In other variations, small sticks are placed in the upper chamber. The sticks are called gbekre nyma, "the eyes of the mice." Bird or bat bones have also been used. Corn or other food may be placed among the sticks or the sticks may be coated with flour. The oracle is covered and the mouse eats the food though its movements create a new pattern of the sticks which constitutes the sign to be interpreted.

Some of the known stick positions include: "open path, favorable augury," "the consultant will receive a visit," "sickness," "death of a woman in the village," "successful labor," "unfavorable sign for a projected marriage," and "death of an individual in another village."


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$1800.00

Old colonial figure
photo of Old colonial figure item #27
Ivory Coast - Baule

"Colonial" figures are spirit mates in the form of Europeans. The Baule people believe that an invisible universe exists parallel to ours, in which every person on earth has a mate, ascribed to him or her automatically within that spiritual realm. It is that world of the spirits that controls all life on earth. So when any individual has any kind of problem, be it psychological, physical, social (i.e., a conflict with another person) it can be resolved within the spirit world. The conduit through which humans communicate with that world is the spirt mate of that person. The first time a person has such a problem he or she might visit the tribal healer who will suggest that the suffering person elicit the help of a carver to create a representation of the mate that person has in the spirit world. This gives the person the ability to relate more personally and directly to that spirit mate. When the women, in the cases of these 3 figures, described their other-world mates to the carver to embody them, they revealed their ideal mates as manifesting these European characteristics. This figure is from Boganda, 14 1/2" tall (37 cm), circa 1950. Note the small gold bead around the neck of this figure. Such gold pieces are often used to adorn objects of spiritual value in order to increase their usefulness, their power. Please click on this photo to see other views of this extraordinary and genuine object.
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$1800.00

Old colonial figure
photo of Old colonial figure item #481
Ivory Coast - Baule

This figure is from the village of Boganda, 10 1/2" tall (27 cm), circa 1950. Please see the explanation included in the item entitled "old colonial figure", above. Please click on the image to see 3 more views of this great old object.
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$450.00

Old drummer figure
photo of Old drummer figure item #132
Ivory Coast - Baule

From the village of Ganada, circa 1985, 7" tall (18 cm)
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$5950.00

Old fetish
photo of Old fetish item #87
Ivory Coast - Baule

My supplier in Ivory Coast told me this figure is from the village of Guirilan and dates to circa 1900. The distinguished professor of Art History and renowned African art expert, Roy Sieber, personally authenticated this statue for me just 5 months before he passed away. However, Roy doubts it is as old as my supplier told me it is. It is 18" tall (46 cm). Click photo for a closeup.
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$1250.00

Old fetish figure
photo of Old fetish figure item #257
Ivory Coast - Tagbana

From Koutiala, 13" tall, circa 1900.
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$750.00

Old fetish stand
photo of Old fetish stand item #238
Burkina Faso - Lobi

22" tall (56 cm)
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$4000.00

Old forest spirit couple
photo of Old forest spirit couple item #81
Ivory Coast - Baule

Circa 1890, 11" and 12" tall (28 and 30 cm), from the village of Beoumi. Click on the photo for more views.
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$145.00

Old turtle fetish
photo of Old turtle fetish item #367
Mali - Dogon

8" long (20 cm). Please click on the image for another view of this genuine old, used fetish figure.
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$250.00

old wood scooter
photo of old wood scooter item #120
Ivory Coast - unknown tribe

9 1/2" long, please click on the image for another view of this very unusal object of African folk art.
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$345.00

Old wood turtle fetish
photo of Old wood turtle fetish item #368
Ivory Coast - Baule

15 1/2" long (39 cm). Please click on the image for another view of this authentic, old, used object.
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$145.00

Old wood turtle fetish figure
photo of Old wood turtle fetish figure item #362
Ghana - Fanti

7 1/2" long (19 cm). Please click on the image to see 2 more views of this authentic old fetish figure.
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$300.00

Power symbol
photo of Power symbol item #259
Nigeria - Ibibio

14 1/2" tall. Click the photo for another view.
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$300.00

Protection post
photo of Protection post item #668
Togo - Moba

33" tall. Please click on the image for a closeup view of the top of this unusual post.
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$695.00

Seated woman
photo of Seated woman item #394
Ghana - Ashanti

33 1/4" tall (84 cm). This is an unusually nice figure featuring her carved and painted kente cloth dress.
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$250.00

Shango
photo of Shango item #255
Nigeria - Yoruba

11" (28 cm)
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$350.00

Shango
photo of Shango item #1365
Nigeria - Yoruba

17" (43 cm)
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$300.00

Shango
photo of Shango item #1366
Nigeria - Yoruba

15" (38 cm)
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$1250.00

Small male figure
photo of Small male figure item #260
Ivory Coast - Baule

10" tall (25 cm), circa 1910, from the village of Ndodelikoro. Please click photo for a closeup
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$95.00

Small protective figure
photo of Small protective figure item #666
Togo - Moba

8 1/2"
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$750.00

Spirit mate
photo of Spirit mate item #389
Ivory Coast - Baule

From the village of Mbahiakoro, 14 1/2" tall (37 cm), circa 1965
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$900.00

Spirit mate
photo of Spirit mate item #1739
Ivory Coast - Baule

11 1/2" tall (29 cm). From the village of Dembokoro, circa 1900.
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$500.00

Spirit mate - colonial figure
photo of Spirit mate - colonial figure item #483
Ivory Coast - Baule

11 3/4" tall (30 cm)
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$500.00

Spirit wife
photo of Spirit wife item #68
Ivory Coast - Baule

13 3/4" tall (35 cm) This is a beautiful, old, mounted piece.
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$1250.00

Spirt mate
photo of Spirt mate item #1740
Ivory Coast - Baule

12 1/2" tall (32 cm) From the village of Kakaba, circa 1930.
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$1250.00

Spirt mate - colonial figure
photo of Spirt mate - colonial figure item #388
Ivory Coast - Baule

15" tall (38 cm). This figure comes from the village of Sakasso. The man I got it from in Central Ivory Coast said it dates to 1915.
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$450.00

Tall protection post
photo of Tall protection post item #669
Togo - Moba

44" tall. Please click on the image for a view of the other side of this fine object.
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$2500.00

Tall woman statue
photo of Tall woman statue item #79
Ivory Coast - unknown tribe

43" tall (1.09 m). Click on the photo to see more views of this beautiful woman figure.
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$600.00

Tallest protection figure
photo of Tallest protection figure item #670
Togo - Moba

46" tall. Please click on the image for 2 more views of this fine old, genuine figure.
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$150.00

Tiny stool with Janus heads
photo of Tiny stool with Janus heads item #261
Ivory Coast - Baule

7 1/2" tall (19 cm)
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$550.00

Turtle eagle proverb figure
photo of Turtle eagle proverb figure item #342
Ivory Coast - Baule

Africans have a plethora of proverbs. It is common for an artist of any medium to incorporate any of those proverbs in his art. The eagle represents power or a powerful person. The turtle represents the common people. The proverb essentially says that each has qualities which give it value, that they are equal. The eagle cannot hurt the shell of the turtle. This is a genuine object, carved in great detail. It would have been covered with gold leaf and the gold either removed before it was sold or it wore off, or a combination of both. It measures 8 1/2" tall (21.6 cm). Please click on the image to see 2 closeups both of which show vestiges of the gold leaf that used to cover the entire piece.
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$1800.00

Wedding spoons
photo of Wedding spoons item #62
Ivory Coast - Baule

The male spoon, mounted is 10 1/2" tall (27 cm), circa 1965, from Ndolikoro.
Couples getting married drink from these spoons not only to profess their loyalty to one another but to prove their faithfulness. If one or the other is not truthful in his or her love, drinking from these spoons will reveal that. The price is for the pair.
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$450.00

Woman figure
photo of Woman figure item #1744
Nigeria - Yoruba

20" tall (51 cm)
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$175.00

Wood turtle fetish
photo of Wood turtle fetish item #375
Mali - Dogon

11" long (28 cm). Please click on the image for another view of this authentic fetish figure.
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