Ethnographica & Tribal Art

Catalogued simply as an ‘African ceremonial tribal spear’ and estimated at £200-300, a Luba staff of office sold for an unexpected £18,500 (plus 15% buyer’s premium) at Gildings’ first sale of the new year in Market Harborough.

Australasia provided the talking points and two main buyers at the recent Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) specialist sale in the Yorkshire Dales.

Thirty of the top textiles and tribal art dealers will be exhibiting at the 'London Antique Textiles & Tribal Art Fair' at the Hilton Olympia in Kensington High Street on Sunday, November 10.

Having stood at Guernsey airport from 1946-81, the island post box shown below came out of storage in 1988 for presentation to the late politician and lawyer Roger Perrot who died earlier this year.

A tribal war club from the Marquesas Islands with textbook provenance has sold for £71,000 at Woolley & Wallis. The u’u (head club) came for sale at the Salisbury saleroom from the descendants of an early-19th century missionary.

A Madonna and Child sculpture from 19th century Luba culture in the Democratic Republic of Congo was among the sales at Tribal Art London, where the theme was Mother, Muse and Maker.

Sussex auction house Burstow & Hewett has withdrawn a rare Maori cloak after its imminent sale was met by online threats and abuse.

Dealer Ian Shaw sold this Tutsi shield, made of lightweight wood with natural pigment and offered for £13,000, to an interior designer from Denmark at last week’s 'Tribal Art London' fair.

This Mayfair event provides an eclectic selection for professionals and public alike

An example of a 'ngaady a mwaash' mask made by the Bushoong Kuba peoples is among the large offering of female-themed items at the next staging of 'Tribal Art London' (TAL).

Saved at the last minute from a skip, a collection of Aboriginal weapons drew worldwide interest at Martel Maides’ sale in St Peter Port, Guernsey.

'La Biennale Paris' and 'Parcours des Mondes' bring the dealing scene in the French capital back to life after summer slumbers, while auction houses also rise to the occasion. We take an early glimpse at what will be on offer for the visitor in September.

Numerous tribes inhabit the Cross River state of south-eastern Nigeria, close to the border with Cameroon. Animals of many kinds play a major part in the myths and religions of the area.

Desmond Morris on his many lives as a zoologist, painter, author and collector

This 1880s Haida painted wood raven rattle, 12¾in (32cm) high, has a provenance to the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society and the collection of the late Johnson S Bogart, San Francisco.

At the Drouot auction centre on June 6 the Paris firm of Binoche et Giquello will be selling a third instalment from a US collection of pre-Columbian works from Meso, Central and South America which is expected to realise in the region of €3m-4m.

Tribal art makes regular saleroom appearances in Paris, which is one of the major commercial centres in this sector.

Spring is a traditional point in the saleroom calendar for New York to mount its tribal art auctions.