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1910 Loango postcard Croquemitaine joue un grand rôle au pays des fétiches

African Art Authenticity, Colonial Postcards, and the Problem of “Made for the Market” Objects

Recently I revisited a fascinating postcard from the Loango coast, dating from around 1910. At first sight, it appears to confirm exactly what many collectors hope to see: African masks and figures photographed “in the field,” offered in an open-air market during the colonial period. For many collectors, such early documentation immediately creates reassurance. The older the publication or photograph,… Read More »African Art Authenticity, Colonial Postcards, and the Problem of “Made for the Market” Objects

African Art mask and figure

Two African Pieces on the Table

This morning, before opening the shop, I placed these two next to each other. Not because they belong to the same tradition. They clearly do not. But sometimes objects begin to speak differently when they share the same space for a while. One is a mask from Zambia, in the Mbunda style. The other, a small Lobi figure from Burkina… Read More »Two African Pieces on the Table

Kifwebe mask

Kifwebe masks explained

Unmasking the Kifwebe There are objects that one first encounters as forms, and only later understands as systems. The Songye Kifwebe mask belongs to this category. At first glance, it is defined by its structure: a face reduced to essential volumes, covered with rhythmic striations, interrupted by projecting eyes and a mouth that breaks the plane. The geometry is direct,… Read More »Kifwebe masks explained

African Art Gallery

African Art Gallery — Step Inside the David Norden Cavern

African Art Gallery — Step Inside the David Norden Cavern When people search for an African art gallery, they are often looking for beauty. But seasoned collectors are looking for something else entirely: truth, age, rarity, and presence. The other day, something happened in my Antwerp gallery that made me smile. The director of the African Art department at the… Read More »African Art Gallery — Step Inside the David Norden Cavern

Figure of the culture hero Chibinda Ilunga, Workshop of the Chokwe region, Angola, around 1850 Wood, Museum Rietberg, 2007.1, Gift acquired through Novartis 5 2007.1

How to Train Your Eye in African Art: 3 Practical Tips for Collectors

Chibinda Ilunga figure, Chokwe, Angola — Museum RietbergThis article is based on a recent newsletter I sent to collectors.    Over the years, I’ve noticed that most collectors are not lacking interest — they are lacking orientation. Where do you look? What do you trust? And how do you train your eye? In this guide, I share three practical directions… Read More »How to Train Your Eye in African Art: 3 Practical Tips for Collectors

BMA Baltimore African Art Museum 2020 Perfect Power 128 1536x864

Museums Databases with Important African Art Collections

This guide for collectors and enthusiasts reflects how I personally use museum collections as a collector and dealer to evaluate and understand African art. It is illustrated with a selection of objects that have particularly caught my eye. Over the years, many collectors have asked me how to distinguish genuine African art from purely decorative pieces. In essence, it comes… Read More »Museums Databases with Important African Art Collections

David Norden in African Art shop

Authentic African Art: Masks, Figures and Ritual Objects for Collectors

Traditional African art is one of the most powerful artistic traditions in the world. Across hundreds of cultures and thousands of communities, artists created masks, sculptures, and ritual objects that served social, spiritual, and political purposes. Unlike modern decorative art, authentic African art was created to function inside living traditions. Masks danced in ceremonies, figures protected villages, and ritual objects… Read More »Authentic African Art: Masks, Figures and Ritual Objects for Collectors

Bena Biombo Himelheber FHH 189 23

The Kuba Are Not What You Think

Most people think they understand what “Kuba” means. A tribe. A style. A familiar category. But that’s usually where the misunderstanding begins. What we call the Kuba is not a single people in the usual sense. It is a kingdom — or more precisely, the result of one. Nearly twenty different groups, brought together and held within a structure that… Read More »The Kuba Are Not What You Think

FXE49153African Art

A Curious Visitor

A Curious Visitor Some people enter quickly, almost by accident. The door opens, and they pause — just long enough to understand that this is not a normal shop. There are many objects. Faces, figures, quiet presences watching from shelves and walls. Some visitors step back for a moment, unsure where to look first. I usually let that moment breathe.… Read More »A Curious Visitor

Warsaw Ethnographic Museum

Warsaw — reflections on scholarship, connoisseurship, and the shifting ground of African art

Traveling to Warsaw to study a private African art collection reminded me once again that objects never exist in isolation. They live between people, ideas, institutions — and sometimes between different definitions of knowledge itself. My days there included examining a private collection, discussing objects with scholar Dariusz Skonieczko, and visiting the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw. What emerged was… Read More »Warsaw — reflections on scholarship, connoisseurship, and the shifting ground of African art

Baule Standing Figure-African Art

Collecting African Art Without Regret — Even in a Changing Market

Hi  African Art collector , Some dealers would like you to believe that all African art is rare and priceless. But we should remember that this is the art of an entire continent, home to hundreds of cultures and carving traditions — meaning there is truly something meaningful to collect at every level. While many of the pieces I offer… Read More »Collecting African Art Without Regret — Even in a Changing Market

African art Barbie

He Collected African Art for Years — Until One Comment Changed Everything

He Collected African Art for Years — Until One Comment Changed Everything A few years ago, a long‑time client sat across from me in my Antwerp gallery, visibly uneasy. He had been collecting African art for decades. Good eyes, serious commitment, many fine pieces. But that afternoon he wasn’t talking about masks or figures. He was talking about prices. “It’s… Read More »He Collected African Art for Years — Until One Comment Changed Everything

Lobi

A Large Encrusted Lobi Figure: Why Some African Ritual Objects Are Not Easy to Sell

Not everything is easy to sell.I hesitated. I’ve kept this Lobi figure for many years. At first, very simply, because it is big.Eighty-one centimeters high, heavy, not easy to handle. For my in-house expeditions, it was never a convenient object. It always required more space, more care, more effort. But that was not the real reason. There is an elegance… Read More »A Large Encrusted Lobi Figure: Why Some African Ritual Objects Are Not Easy to Sell

FXE48635African Art

Why Dakakari Terracottas Are So Rare

Why Dakakari Terracottas Are So Rare Among the many sculptural traditions of Nigeria, Dakakari (Dakarkari) terracotta funerary sculpture remains one of the least known and least documented. Yet precisely this marginal position — geographically, culturally, and historically — explains both its rarity and its importance. A Small People, a Specific Tradition The Dakakari are a small ethnic group living in… Read More »Why Dakakari Terracottas Are So Rare

African art guide

A Collector’s Guide to Traditional African Art

A Collector’s Guide to Traditional African Art By David Norden • BuyAfricanAntiques.com • Antwerp For more than 30 years, I’ve helped collectors discover authentic African masks, figures, and ritual objects created for social, political, and spiritual purposes. Traditional African art is one of the world’s most diverse and historically meaningful art forms — yet many collectors don’t know where to… Read More »A Collector’s Guide to Traditional African Art

Suku mask

Navigating the World of Authentic African Masks: Lessons From 30 Years in the Field

Photo: A fine Suku Mask fom David Norden’s collection. Over the past weeks, several collectors have told me how difficult it is to navigate the world of African masks online.Too many choices, too many claims of “authenticity,” and far too many pieces that were never used in ritual at all. I understand the frustration.When I began 30 years ago, I… Read More »Navigating the World of Authentic African Masks: Lessons From 30 Years in the Field

Fon Boccio african art

A Power Vodun Figure from the Dahomean Frontier

At the old border between Benin and Togo, the landscape changes little, but belief changes everything. The line we know today—704 kilometers of straight segments, river bends and coastal lagoons—was not drawn by the Fon priests who worked with spirits. It was the product of 19th-century European treaties between France and Germany, and a precise delimitation in 1912. The boundary… Read More »A Power Vodun Figure from the Dahomean Frontier