LIVING GREEN DESIGN
Please look through the artifacts in our Africa section or come down to our showroom to walk among them. We have cultural objects from the Igbo, the Senufo, the Yoruba, the Bamun and the Samburu tribes, each unique in its technique and narrative.
1485 Custer Avenue, San Francisco, 415.864.2251 / info@livinggreen.com
Hornbill Bird Figure
$975
36”H x 24”L x 9”W
#7264
This carving of a hornbill, or porpianong bird, is from the Ivory Coast. It is sourced from the Senufo tribe, living in a region spanning the northern Coast, southeastern Mali and the western Burkina Faso. The piece is all wood with pigment.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Ceremonial Mask from The Igbo Tribe of Nigeria
$1000
22”H x 10”D
#577
One of a handful of Nigerian Igbo masks in the Living Green archive. This carved wooden piece can be worn if the occasion deems and is oddly laconic.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Cast Bronze Bust of Benin Chief, Africa
$875
16”H x 8”W x 7”D
#920
Benin has a long history of forging bronze into effigies and statuary dating to the 13th Century. This depiction of a Benin Chief is nearly Modern, with its straight lines and abstracted facial hair. The head supports what can only be described as a practical headdress awaiting whatever offerings fit its carriage.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Rare Igbo Tribe Copper Currency Coil, 20th C.
$1075
12”H x 5”W
#921
Round copper coils representing money seems no different than little copper disks representing money. Here Nigerian Igbo culture offers a denomination both curious and desirable.
The Igbo people of Nigeria have a number of different forms of currency, from cowrie shells to cloth. Other times, wrapped or hammered coils of copper, actually worn on the forearm, were also thought of as a kind of asset/treasure to be worn by wealthier members of the tribe.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
African Samburu Prestige Necklaces, c. 1920s
$1875 (there are two on the site)
5”H x 10”W x 11”D
#923
These are necklaces of good fortune to the woman of Samburu tribe of Kenya. Each denotes status within the hierarchy of their community. Glass beads, elephant hair, leather and ochres are tightly pulled together as the piece is worn around the neck.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
African Samburu Prestige Necklaces, c. 1920s
$1875 (there are two on the site)
5”H x 10”W x 11”D
#923
These are necklaces of good fortune to the woman of Samburu tribe of Kenya. Each denotes status within the hierarchy of their community. Glass beads, elephant hair, leather and ochres are tightly pulled together as the piece is worn around the neck.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Nigerian Bronze Medicine Vessel
$1100
17”H x 5”W x 5”D
#980
Using the lost wax method, this intriguing African vessel has a dipper lid, like a perfume bottle, and ornaments freely hanging from the body. The whole piece evokes the feel of an African Middle Earth.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Cameroon Carved Fertility Trunk
$3000
39” x 26” x 25”
#6048
From the Bamun tribe of Cameroon, this unique artifact is carved from a single piece of wood. The top separates as a lid. The entirety of the piece features pregnant figures and creatures associated with the fertility process.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Wood Carved Riders On A Horse, Dogon Tribe, Mali
$1125
30”H x 16”W x 7”D
#966
The Dogon live in West Africa and are best known for their spiritual traditions, mask dances, wooden sculpture and their architecture.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Wood Carved Fertility Statue, Ivory Coast
$725
58”H x 10”W x 10”D
#2612
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
African Mask, Fang Tribe
$650
49”H x 10”W x 8”D
#421
The Fang people are from Central Africa, Equatorial Guinea. They are known to preserve their ethnic history through musical oral tradition.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Horse Head Rest, 1930s era Dinka Tribe, Sudan
$775
24”W x 12”H x 7D
#961
The Dinka are an ethnic group native to South Sudan, living along the Nile River.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Igbo Tribe Currency, Early 20th Century
$675
28” H
#978
The Igbo people of Nigeria have a number of different forms of currency, from cowrie shells to cloth. Other times, wrapped or hammered coils of copper, actually worn on the forearm, were also thought of as a kind of asset/treasure to be worn by wealthier members of the tribe.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Ceremonial Monkey Mask, Dogon Tribe, Mali, Africa
$1200
60”H x 12” 13”
#969
The Dogon live in West Africa and are best known for their spiritual traditions, mask dances, wooden sculpture and their architecture.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Bird Of Prosperity Ceremonial Mask, Nuna Tribe, Burkina Faso, West Africa
$1275
23”H x 12”W x 12”D
#578
The Nuna people from Southern Burkina Faso are know for their masks, some of which are quite colorful in red, white and black. A former French colony known as Upper Volta, they gained independence in 1960, taking the name Burkina Faso (“Land Of Incorruptible People”) in 1984.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Bronze Ceremonial Tribal Mask, Bambara Tribe, Mali, Africa
$375
16” H x 7” W x 8” D
#976
The Bamabara, living in two parts along the Niger River, are known for their masks, in particular masks like this one that, with its thin mouth, underscore the virtue of silence and the importance of controlling one’s speech. This is a discipline taught to boys coming of age.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Antique Excavated Iron Currency, Mfunte Tribe, Democratic Republic Congo
$725
27”H x 10”W
#5369
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Carved African Wooden Chair With Antelope Figure
$475
40”H x 28”D x 16”W
#963
From the Senufo Tribe along the Ivory Coast, this chair is in two pieces that fit together like a pair of scissors as is the technique of the tribal artisans there.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
African Mask, Igbo Tribe, Nigeria, Early 1900s
$1700
32”H x 9”W x 11”D
#967
The Igbo are known for their masks. This one is made of wood with remnants of pigment.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Carved Antelope Mask, Bambara Tribe, 19th C.
$1100
27”H x 7”W x 7”D
#974
The Bambara, living in two parts along the Niger River, are known for their masks, Chiwara, also spelled Chi wara or Tyiwara, is the antelope figure depicted here representing the spirit that taught humans the fundamentals of agriculture. The Bambara honour Chiwara though art and dance.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Nigerian Ceremonial Carved Vessel
$1800
53”H x 16”W
#970
This West African piece is in three parts, two of them vessels with lids. A rider on horseback is on the top and below, supporting the world of the rider, are six ceremonial minions. Below them are two riderless horses.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
Hand Carved Baga Tribe Serpent
$4200
79” x 18”W x 12”D
#653
The Baga serpent, known as Kalimbe, or Bansonyi, is a protective spirit found in the form of a snake and presides over male initiation ceremonies among the Baga culture in Guinea, West Africa. In the days preceding the initiation ceremonies, two carved Bansonyies appear in the village and are decorated with colorful streamers. These two carvings represent the parents of the male initiate and are then supported by scaffolding and carried by several men hidden under palm leaves and cloth.
Baga serpent carvings are valuable and sought after by collectors.
Contact Living Green at 415.864.2251 or info@livinggreen.com to purchase this piece.
