The few African objects which reached Europe during the past centuries were considered exclusively as oddities or creations of primitive cultures. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that, thanks to artists like Picasso, Vlaminck, Derain, Modigliani, Matisse and Braque, African art began to be recognised as such (click here to see some examples of masterpieces of African art). In the past few decades, the phenomenon of African items collecting has been growing and spreading impressively; this resulted in African ritual objects being almost completely sold out. The terms “ritual objects” identify statues and masks which were actually used for traditional and religious purposes by specific secret societies. On the one hand, the growing demand for such objects in Europe and in the United States, together with the disappearance of religious practices among many African populations, had the consequence of gathering genuine examples of African art in European or American private collections or specialized art galleries located in Paris, Brussels, New York, etc. On the other hand, in recent years Africa experienced a consistent development of the market of fakes and copies. Authentic African objects followed specific stylistic standards, presented patinas created by many years of use for religious purposes and, most important of all, had peculiar aesthetic qualities which cannot be found in objects presently produced in Africa for commercial purposes. The production of fakes and copies, though, has become more and more refined, so that it may sometimes be difficult even for connoisseurs to decide if an object is authentic or not. This is the reason why, relevant to objects of particular importance, it is essential to ascertain their origin, that is, when they arrived in Europe and who were their owners. Broadly speaking, an African object collected at the beginning of the 20th century is more likely to be genuine than one collected at the end of the same century, when the production of copies (not used in rituals but produced for mere commercial purposes) increased enormously. Due to all these factors, and above all to the rarity of genuine objects, the market of genuine African art has experienced an ongoing increase in prices, sometimes reaching amounts which may seem excessive to those uninformed about this kind of collecting, but which are always proportionate to the rarity, artistic beauty and unquestionable genuineness of the product (click here to see some examples of important knocking down obtained in recent auctions).
Due to this increase in the prices of ritual sculptures, a market for African objects of everyday use has started developing in the past few years: these are hand-manufactured articles which used to be, and still are, used in everyday life, such as stools, bowls, vases, containers, textiles, tools, etc. However, it remains essential to distinguish between genuine objects ( with stylistic features typical of a specific population and used for many years, thus presenting patinas, marks of use, original repairs) and copies created with the purpose of being sold in Western countries, where ethnic and African pieces of furniture have been fashionable in the past few years. In some cases, however, it is possible to find real masterpieces among objects of everyday use, too (click here to see a few examples). This is the reason why prices of objects of everyday use are extremely variable, although always proportionate to the three following qualities: genuineness, rarity and aesthetic quality.
The choice of our African objects follows two main principles: genuineness and traditional manufacturing. From an ethnographic point of view, genuineness refers to the fact that the hand-made object was created by a population for own use, and not for commercial purposes. This is particularly true for old objects and antiques, presenting patinas, marks of use, repairs and restorations carried out by the same people who created the object. As far as more recent objects are concerned, it is more difficult to ascertain their genuineness from an ethnographic point of view; therefore, we choose those objects which follow traditional manufacturing techniques. In this way we try to protect such cultural expression that otherwise would risk extinction. The objects we propose, then, range from traditional handicrafts to original African antiques. Objects are purchased either in Africa or from European dealers. Each piece is unique and cannot be reproduced.

All prices are in Euro and include 20% VAT. Goods purchased by people who are not resident in the European Union are not subject to VAT, therefore it must be deducted from the given price (price for non-European citizens is equal to= given price : 1,2). Prices do not include shipping, which depends on the type of object purchased, its weight and the delivery address, and therefore will be communicated afterwards. If you wish to receive a detailed description of an object in French, English or German, please contact info@craftart.it.