African Art Auction Ending 4/9

#15 – RARE BLACKSMITH’S BELLOWS, FIVE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN BLACKSMITH’S TOOLS AND IRON ORE. (A) Bellows. Gogo people, Tanzania. See picture showing multiple similar bellows in use. This example of a completely intact double-barrel bellows with iron nozzles is an exceedingly rare find worthy of any museum or personal collection. It is said to date from the 1930s. The bellows, carved from a single block of wood, was used to force air into hot coals by an assistant who pumped the leather caps by alternately raising and pushing down on the wooden rods. Wood, leather, iron. H 26in. (B) Round headed hammer with wood handle. Baule people, Ivory Coast. Handle shows excellent patina from use. On custom base. Wood, iron. H 11.5in. (C) Dagger-shaped anvil. Matakam people, Cameroon. On custom base. Iron. H 10in. (D) Anvil with white pigment. Kissi people, Guinea. The anvil has been anointed with white kaolin libations honoring ancestors by a blacksmith seeking guidance in his work from ancestral blacksmiths. (E) Punch. Cameroon. Used to make holes and decorative designs. On custom base. Iron. H 7in. (F) Small iron-containing rocks. Stones such as these were loaded into a traditional smelting furnace to separate the iron (bloom) from the slag (See pictures showing a traditional clay iron smelting furnace. In one image, the furnace is being heated with wood. Other image shows iron-bearing rocks being added to the furnace). This is the way native iron was obtained before it was commercially available. The stones were collected in a region of Mali where the soil is rich in iron.

RARE BLACKSMITH’S BELLOWS, FIVE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN BLACKSMITH’S TOOLS AND IRON ORE. (A) Bellows. Gogo people, Tanzania. See picture showing multiple similar bellows in use. This example of a completely intact double-barrel bellows with iron nozzles is an exceedingly rare find worthy of any museum or personal collection. It is said to date from the 1930s. The bellows, carved from a single block of wood, was used to force air into hot coals by an assistant who pumped the leather caps by alternately raising and pushing down on the wooden rods. Wood, leather, iron. H 26in. (B) Round headed hammer with wood handle. Baule people, Ivory Coast. Handle shows excellent patina from use. On custom base. Wood, iron. H 11.5in. (C) Dagger-shaped anvil. Matakam people, Cameroon. On custom base. Iron. H 10in. (D) Anvil with white pigment. Kissi people, Guinea. The anvil has been anointed with white kaolin libations honoring ancestors by a blacksmith seeking guidance in his work from ancestral blacksmiths. (E) Punch. Cameroon. Used to make holes and decorative designs. On custom base. Iron. H 7in. (F) Small iron-containing rocks. Stones such as these were loaded into a traditional smelting furnace to separate the iron (bloom) from the slag (See pictures showing a traditional clay iron smelting furnace. In one image, the furnace is being heated with wood. Other image shows iron-bearing rocks being added to the furnace). This is the way native iron was obtained before it was commercially available. The stones were collected in a region of Mali where the soil is rich in iron.

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