Brass Castings

Ghana was once known as the Gold Coast and brass weights cleverly embellished with designs were used to weigh the gold. These gold weights were made using the lost wax process of casting.

Chess Set: each piece individually casted (solid brass) board is made of hand tooled leather.

Kente Cloth

In Ghana traditional weaving is done by men of the Ewe and Ashanti tribes.
Who is more innovative depends on your source of information. The Ewe migrated from the north and their famous weaving villages are in the Volta Region along the path of migration. Ewe work is distinguished by animal, human and symbolic patterns woven into the cloth. The Ashanti are located in the Central Region and are known for their traditional crafts. Ashanti cloth is usually geometric in design. Both groups excel at weaving cloth fit for a king, and originally Kente was only worn by kings, chiefs or people in very prominent positions. Now, it is available to all, but because of its expense, it is still the cloth of prestige.

Large enough to fit a Queen/King Size Bed

10 ft x 7 ft

Cost: $490.00

Beads

When you ask Ghanaians where beads come from they will tell you that they come from the ground, and indeed, many have been dug up, but the Krobo are the most famous beadmakers in Ghana and originally they bought their beads from traders who came from Nigeria. Now there are several Krobo workshops where glass beads are made in ceramic molds by firing in woodburning kilns. Made by men, it takes several years of apprenticeship to be able to form some of the intricate patterns associated with African beads.

Traditional Zulu Baskets

The Zulus are the largest tribe in Southern Africa, renowned for their artistry and craftsmanship. Dotted on the rolling hills of Kwa Zulu, there exists a beehive of industry where numerous women work at the art of basketry. They have taken the traditional art form and turned it into a way in which to supplement their incomes and, in many cases their only means of income.

 
The women work in their homes, where they can assimilate basket-making into their normal routine - giving themselves time to raise their children, work in the fields, collect water and other daily chores.
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Every basket is made by hand, using indigenous raw materials, and the type of basket varies from area to area, depending on the availability of raw materials, and the use to which the basket is to be put. It can take up to one month to produce a medium sized basket that will be unique in size, shape, pattern, weave and color. A true collector's item.

Some common colors used in Zulu Basket weaving:

All colors are naturally obtained from boiling roots, leaves, berries and bark of indigenous flora. Many are seasonal.
Brown/Black( Isizimane) - Roots of tree, crushed and boiled for many days.
Pink/Lilac (Mphegumbefu) - Leaves of small bush (12-18 Hours)
Coral (Mgwenya) -Aloe Roots (4-6 hours)
Purple/Blue (Umdoni) - Skin of ripe umdoni berries (4-5 hours)
Burgundy/Maroon (Isfixu) - Bark of Marula Tree (1-2 hours)
Orange (Xomisane)- Roots of small plant (2-4 hours)
Mustard/Yellow (Icena) - Paste of wood-ash and water. Soaked overnight boiled 5-7 hours
Grey (Ijuba) - Soaked in black mud for up to 1 week
Khaki Green (Mxuba) - Fresh cow dung, soaked overnight in water, thereafter boiled with palm leaves for 4-5 hours. The green color is clearer in Spring.

Materials commonly used in basket weaving:

Ilala Palm - most desirable. Grows along the North Eastern Coast of Kwa Zulu. Once cut and dried, the leaf is then prepared for weaving into fine, often watertight baskets - Natural Shade: Cream

NCEBE - bark of wild banana, natural shade: light brown. These baskets are not watertight - used for dry storage. Dyed Ilala interwoven to impart color and design.

Imbenge - A small saucer  shapedbowl traditionally woven with Ilala palm and grass fibres. The Imbenge is used as a platter for serving dried foodstuffs, as well as used upside down to function as a lid or cover for the clay beer pots. When not in use it is hung up on the wall of the hut as part of the décor.

Ukhamba - A rigid, bulb shaped container, rendered watertight by the tightness of the coil/weave and the material used ( ilala palm). When liquids, generally home brewed beer, are introduced into the ukhamba, the pores swell, whilst the outside sweats, thus keeping the liquid cool by means of evaporation. These baskets are usually very decorative and colourful, particularly those made for ceremonial use.

Isichumo - a rigid bottle shaped basket used for carrying liquids. It often has a lid which fits over the neck like a cap. The same stitching technique is used as the Ukhamba, and it works on the same principle.

Isiquabetho - A large basin shaped basket used for gathering and carrying grain. The small bowls are used for serving dry foods such as beans, fruit or nuts.

Price Range: $25.00 - $155.00

Tikar Guardians over 6 feet

(Hand-carved Wood Tusks), Cameroon

These two items are sold as a set.  They were handcarved in Cameroon by the Tikar tribe. 

It is believed that each Guardian is placed on opposite sides of the kings’ bed to stand guard.  

If trouble should come (the king or his kingdom threatened . . .  the figures on the top will sound an alarm to alert the king and his guards.

Approximate Dimensions:

77” tall x 34” dia

Price: $1600.00/pr

Cameroon Pygmy Tribe Bed

Approx. Dimensions: 72” length x 18” width x 13” height

Material: Walnut Wood

 Price: $625.00

Circular Table

 Dark brown wooden table entire 360 degrees of its side is covered in individual carved wood studs  - hand-carved from a single piece of wood. 

 Can be used as a coffee table, extra seating, uses are limited only by your imagination.

 Approx. Size: 17” height x 28” width

Material: Walnut Wood

Made in Cameroon

Age: Unknown

Beaded on the front and back panels and has virtually no bead loss.

These masks, with beads carefully embroidered onto cloth take the form of an important royal icon, the elephant, with its long trunk and large ears. 

The display of wearing these embellished masks and other regalia at court ceremonies was the best evidence of the wealth of a Bamileke kingdom.

A Sampling of some of the masks we have from Cameroon and Gabon . . .

RELIQUARY GUARDIAN, Gabon

Living on the eastern side of Gabon, the Kota people comprise a number of small tribes such as the Mahongwe, the Sango . . .who all practice similar ceremonies. 

Protecting sacred relics (clan founders' skulls & certain bones) and their living descendants with reliquary guardians is a strong tradition of three peoples of Gabon; the Fang, Bakota and Mahongwe.
 

Historically, the Kota left their dead unburied in the forest far from the village. Under the influence of neighboring tribes, they then began to bury their dead.

Chiefs were always buried, but often their bones (especially the skull) were later exhumed and placed with magical objects (shells, seeds, fruits) in a dark box or a basket called a bwete, in which a carved figure was placed. This highly stylized body in a shape of a lozenge supports an enlarged, stylized copper-plated head.

Material: wood, copper, jute

Dimensions: 61" t x 15" w

Cost: $290.00

African Reliquary ancestor figure (bieri), Gabon

Bieri are reliquary ancestor figures placed by the Fang upon their bark boxes to personify the tribal soul, containing the skulls and skeletons of prominent deceased persons.

The ritual consisted of prayers, libations, and sacrifices offered to the ancestor. With its large head and short legs, the bieri figure has the proportion of a newborn, thus emphasizing the group's continuity with the three "classes" of the society: the "not-yet-born," the living, and the dead. The relics were essentially skull fragments, or sometimes complete skulls, jawbones, teeth and small bones. The bieri also served for therapeutic rituals and, above all, for the initiation of young males during the great so festival.

Material: wood and bark - the figure is hand-carved and mounted to the container that is constructed of bark.

Size: Approximately 25" tall 12" dia

Age: Unknown

Cost: $189.00