The Niger Bend | A Selection of Our Best Items |
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$1500.00 3 of the best aduazes
item #386Nigeria - Hausa This aduaze measures 26 1/2 x 12 1/2". Please click on the image to view 2 more. The second one measures 28 x 16" and is the same price, $1,500. The third measures 28 3/4 x 14 3/4"; its price is $1,800. | $1800.00 Aduaze Koranic school board
item #316Nigeria - Hausa In the past it was very common for parents to choose to send their children to Koranic school instead of sending them to public school. In addition to the appeal of the religion the Koranic schools typically cost little or nothing whereas at the very least parents had to dress their children according to the school dress code in order to attend public school. Many parents could not and still cannot afford this expense. The disadvantage to Koranic school was that the children would not learn the official language of the country be it English in Nigeria or French in any of the countries of francophone Africa. They would learn to read and write enough Arabic to study the Koran but usually not enough to converse in it. And few people spoke or speak Arabic outside of a religious context. Now more and more people are doing whatever it takes to send as many of their children as possible to public school. They may also attend Koranic school but this is extracurricular. These wooden boards are what the children use to practice reading and writing their lessons in the Koran which is always in Arabic. Our website features beautiful examples of the genre. This one measures 13" wide x 23" tall. Look below to see a photo of a religious man writing on one. |
Detail of Arabic writing on Aduazes
item #383Nigeria - Hausa This writing is from three of the aduazes on this page. | $600.00 Djibril statue
item #321Mali - unknown tribe This wooden figure, which measures 11" tall, was probably not carved in Africa. Rather it was probably originated somewhere in the Arab world and was traded to West Africa. It was collected in Mali. It represents Djibril, the horse on which Mohammed ascended to heaven. |
$250.00 Fifth old used Walaja with writing on both sides
item #696Mali - Bamana 21 x 7 3/4". Please click on the image to view the reverse side of this very old and used indispensable Islamic teaching device. | $900.00 Fifth very fine old aduaze
item #702Nigeria - Hausa 22 x 11 3/4". Please click on the image to see the other of this very worn and very used Koranic learning device. |
$900.00 Finest quality oldest walaja
item #748Mali - No tribal association Measuring 18 3/4" tall this is the best quality walaja of the type that is used most often in Mali. It is really old and has lots of signs of its age; cracked and mended, its owner kept on using it until the day we got it. Please click on the image to see the other side of it. I bought this myself years ago from the owner of it and I have kept it in my personal collection ever since. | $300.00 First painted Walaja Koranic school board
item #317Burkina Faso - Mossi This Koranic school board, referred to in Burkina Faso as a "walaja", was painted by a marabout, an Islamic religious leader. The verses from the Koran are meant to be read, not re-written on this same board. Please click on the image to view the other side of the same piece, also beautifully painted. This board measures 20 x 6 1/2" tall. |
$1500.00 First very fine old aduaze
item #698Nigeria - Hausa 22 x 14 1/4", not counting the small wood "handle" on the top. In fact, this small "handle" is what is left after the horizontal piece, always relatively fragile, broke off. The family which used the board did not consider this a problem and continued to use it even without the horizontal part of the handle. The remaining protrusion has become quite well worn with use over the course of many years. Please click on the image to view the reverse of this old and worn object of islamic teaching. | $175.00 Fourth old used Walaja with writing on both sides
item #695Mali - Bamana 18 3/4 x 5 1/2". Please click on the image to see the other side of this very used old Islamic tool for students to learn the Koran. |
$1200.00 Fourth very fine old aduaze
item #701Nigeria - Hausa 21 1/2 x 10". Please click on the image to view the reverse of this beautiful board, perfectly complete with its horizontal handle intact. | $125.00 Koranic school paintings
item #322Senegal - Wolof In Senegal there has been a proliferation recently of paintings on wood representing all aspects of life in that country. Please see our web page entitled 2 Dimensional Art to see other examples of this proliferation. Since the Koranic school is such an important aspect of life in Senegal they figure prominently in this form of artistic expression. This one measures 13 x 18". Please click on the photo to see another of these paintings. The second one measures 11 x 18". |
$195.00 Larger common walajas
item #746Mali - No tribal association This walaja is 17 3/4" tall. Please click on the image to see 2 more. The second is 28 3/8" tall and priced at $295. The third is 17" tall, $195. | $1500.00 Largest aduazes
item #382Nigeria - Hausa This aduaze is of excellent quality. It measures 25 x 12 1/4". Please click on the photo to view 2 more beautiful aduazes. The second one measures 23 1/2 x 12 1/2". The third one is 25 x 13". |
$250.00 More Walajas
item #319Mali - Bamana This Walaja measures 18 1/2". Click on it to view 2 more measuring 18" and 29", respectively. They are all the same price, $250. each. Both sides of all of these have similar writing. | $200.00 Second old used Walaja with writing on both sides
item #693Mali - Bamana 15 3/4 x 7 1/2" |
$300.00 Second painted Walaja Koranic school board
item #692Burkina Faso - Mossi 18 x 7". Please click on the image to see the other side, similarly painted, of this beautiful object of Islamic art. | $600.00 Second very fine old aduaze
item #699Nigeria - Hausa 20 x 11 3/4". Please click on the image to see the other side of this very old and very worn aduaze. |
$1500.00 Seventh very fine old aduaze
item #705Nigeria - Hausa 23 x 10". Please click on the image to see the other side of this beautiful board with some of the most beautiful calligraphy. | $225.00 Sixth old used Walaja with writing on both sides
item #697Mali - Bamana 20 3/4 x 6 1/2". Please click on the image to view the reverse side of this fine walaja. |
$750.00 Sixth very fine old aduaze
item #703Nigeria - Hausa 20 1/2 x 9 3/4". Please click on the image to see the old writing on the other side of this very used Islamic object. | $145.00 Smaller common walajas
item #747Mali - No tribal association This is 15 3/8" tall. Please click on the image to see two more: the second is 15" tall, priced the same at $145. The third is 14 3/4" tall, $75. |
$225.00 Smaller Walajas, Walajas without writing
item #320Mali - Bamana These smaller walajas measure 17 1/2", 15" and 13 1/2", left to right. Their prices are $225, $200 and $145. Click on the photo to view two other, very used walajas, whose writing has been washed off but no new verses had been written on them at the point we acquired them. The first one of these measures 27 1/4 x 10", $250. The second one measures 14 x 6", $50. | $2500.00 the 3 largest aduazes
item #387Nigeria - Hausa This aduaze measures 33 1/2 x 15 1/4". Please click on this image to see the other two large, finest quality aduazes. The second measures 29 1/4 x 15 3/4" and the third is 29 1/2 x 14 3/5". The second and third are both $1,800 each. |
$200.00 Third old used Walaja with writing on both sides
item #694Mali - Bamana 17 1/2 x 5 1/2". Please click on the image to see the other side of this old Islamic Koranic teaching device. | $500.00 Third very fine old aduaze
item #700Nigeria - Hausa 18 x 9 1/4". Please click on the image to view the reverse of this very old and worn Islamic teaching object. |
$1500.00 Three of the very finest old aduazes
item #704Nigeria - Hausa Measuring, respectively, 21 3/4 x 9 1/2", 20 1/2 x 11 1/4", and 22 1/4 x 12 1/4", these 3 very beautiful and fine quality aduazes are all very similar and are each the same price, $1,500. Please click on the image to see the other two. In all three cases, the writing on the reverse is very similar, at least in terms of the way it looks on the board. I presume that the verses are different; I regret I am unable to read them myself. | $300.00 Walaja Koranic school board
item #318Mali - Bamana Walajas without painted decorations have verses that the marabout, or teacher of the Koranic school class, would write on the board and that the children would then copy, wash off and write again. These are the most common. This one measures 26 1/4 x 7 3/4". Please click on the image to view the other side which has similar writing. |
$200.00 Widest walaja
item #749Togo - No tribal association This unusual walaja measures 18 1/2" tall by 15 1/2" wide. Please click on the image to see the other side of it. | Writing on a walaja
item #325Mali - Bamana This is a Koranic school teacher writing Koranic verses on a walaja for one of his students. |
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