The Niger Bend | A Selection of Our Best Items |
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$400.00 2-Head Barbershop/Beauty Salon Signs
item #607Ghana - No tribal association This signboard measures 48 x 23 3/4". | $500.00 2-head sandwich beauty salon signs
item #629Ghana - No tribal association Each of these two signs measures the same, 25 1/2 x 41". Please click to see the other one. |
$500.00 2-sided 4-head Beauty Salon Sign
item #625Togo - No tribal association This sign measures 38 x 25". Please click to see the othe side of this single signboard. | $750.00 2-sided Barbershop sign
item #601Ivory Coast - No tribal association This sign measures 29 1/2 x 40". Please click on the image to see the other side of this sign which is painted on both sides of the same piece of wood. When you click on this image you will also see another view of the sign in the place in Abidjan where we bought it, from the owner of the salon. |
$350.00 2-sided barbershop sign
item #623Togo - No tribal association This is a single sign, painted on both sides. It measures 18 x 48 3/4". Please click to see the other side. | $400.00 2-sided Beauty Salon sign
item #610Ghana - No tribal association 35 1/4 x 15 3/4" |
$1500.00 2-sided beauty salon sign - extraordinarily large
item #516Ivory Coast - No tribal association At 39 1/2 x 78 3/4" this is the largest beauty salon/barbershop sign I have ever seen and it also among the most beautifully painted. Please click on the image to view the other side of it. | $1250.00 2-sided Best Quality Medicine SignSOLD 
item #417Ghana - No tribal association This sign is the largest and exhibits the best artistic quality of the genre that I have ever seen. It measures 65 1/2 x 46 1/2". This sign illustrates many of the ailments this establishment treats, most of which are self-explanatory. Please click on the image to see the other side of this same sign and a photo of the sign along the road before we took it down. This sign has been SOLD. I am keeping this photo on line because it is such a great example of the genre. |
$750.00 2-sided medicine sign, 1-sided medicine sign
item #376Ghana - No tribal association Signs such as this one are common throughout West Africa. Typically signs like this one are used by the seller of a liquid which is meant to treat all the conditions represented on the sign. Effectively the product is the same as what used to be called "snake oil" in the US. That is, the liquid probably is not a cure-all for these conditions although it is sold as such. It appears that sometimes the people using these signs also offer services beyond the mere sale of a bottled miracle cure. This sign measures 23 3/4 x 47". Please click on the image for a view of the other side of this great old, used sign, as well as of another sign, painted on only one side. The second sign measures 24 x 48", $600. | $500.00 2-sided sign
item #370Ivory Coast - No tribal association This sign measures 39 1/2 x 30". Please click on the image to view the other side of this single piece, painted on both sides, and a third sign, a large artist advertising portrait measuring 26 x 39 1/4", $300. |
$450.00 2nd Vertical 3-head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #636Togo - No tribal association 45 x 17 1/2". Please click to see the other in this pair. Both are worn but the second one is more worn. Its price is $350. | $400.00 3-head barbershop signs
item #514Ghana - No tribal association 38 1/2 x 18 1/2". Please click on the image to see another 3-head sign. The second one measures 48 x 20". Both are the same price, $400 each. |
$400.00 3-Head Barbershop Signs - second set
item #603Ghana - No tribal association This sign measures 48 x 24". Please click to see 2 more signs. The second measures 39 1/2 x 14 1/2" and is from Mali; the third is 32 x 15". Both the second and third are $300 each. | $400.00 3-head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #631Togo - No tribal association 35 x 24". Please click to see the other one in this pair. Each sign is available separately at the same price, $400. |
$400.00 4-head sandwich sign
item #627Togo - No tribal association Each of this pair of signboards measures 29 3/4 x 27 1/4". Please click to see the other of these two signboards, sold separately at the same price each, $400. | $400.00 5 head barbershop signs
item #541Ghana - No tribal association This sign and the one below this came from the same artist in Kumasi, Ghana, where I bought them. It measures 48 x 16". The artist had painted it along with the one below and 3 others for a customer but when I offered to buy them, he agreed to paint another set for the customer who had commissioned them. Please click on the image to see a view of the studio where I bought them. Please see the other remaining sign in this set and more views of the studio below. |
$400.00 5 head barbershop signs - 1 more
item #542Ghana - No tribal association This sign and the other 4 in this set all came from the same artist in Kumasi, Ghana, where I bought them. They all measure 48 x 16". The artist had painted them for a customer but when I offered to buy them, he agreed to paint another set for the customer who had commissioned them. Please click on the image to see one of the other four in this set and 2 views of the studio where I bought them. Please see the other 4 signs in this set and more views of the studio just above and just below. | $200.00 Advertising Portraits
item #412Ghana - No tribal association Many artists in Ghana display examples of their work along the side of the road to draw attention to the availability of their craft. In fact, their primary intention is not to sell these works, rather to use them to attract commissions for personal or professional work. In other words, these paintings serve as publicity. Most often these portraits on display are of people famous around the world or primarily in Ghana. This portrait, of course, is of Malcolm X. The painting measures 32 1/2 x 40 1/2". Unlike most comparable portraits painted on wood, the artist, Sawyer Dele, of this painting preferred to paint this one on canvas. |
$600.00 African family commercial art
item #600Nigeria - No tribal association This signboard is unusual in its realism. It is very weathered indicating a long period of use in an outdoor location. It measures 44 x 23". Please click on the image for an Africa village represented in a signboard, 48 x 32", $400, and a third of an African woman, 32 x 48", $400. | $400.00 Ahmed the barber, his sign and 2 commercial artist advertising signs
item #546Ghana - No tribal association Ahmed is a barber in Kumasi who also sells barbershop signs. This one measures 12 x 34". Please click on the image to see 2 more commercial art advertising signs, not having belonged to Ahmed, the second measuring 27 3/4 x 48", $400. The third measures 35 1/2 x 22 1/4", $200. |
$500.00 American flag representations in barberhop signs
item #596Ghana - No tribal association Some Americans think that people outside of the US do not like us. That sure is not true in Africa, at least if barbershop signs and commercial art are any indication. I see American flag representations everywhere. This sign measures 26 1/2 x 22 3/4". Africans admire the power of America; this signboard is the way they show that. They love it. Please click on the image to see 2 barbershop signs with American flag imagery. The second one measures 48 x 15 1/2" and is $400. The third one is 24 x 48" and is $500. | $500.00 Another 3-head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #633Togo - No tribal association 39 x 24". Please click to see the other one. |
$400.00 Another 4 head barber shop sign
item #605Ghana - No tribal association This sign measures 48 x 15 1/2". | $400.00 Another 4 head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #630Togo - No tribal association Each of these two signboards measures 39 x 31 1/2". Please click to see the other one. |
$400.00 Another copy of a large commercial sign
item #523Ghana - No tribal association I commissioned this sign as a copy of a much larger one I photographed in Accra. Of course this is not an exact copy but it is interesting the way the artist interpreted it. This sign measures 30 x 24". Please click on the image to see a view of the billboard I photographed. | $450.00 Another lg 2-head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #640Togo - No tribal association 43 1/4 x 23 1/4". Please click to see the other one. |
$300.00 Another single head sandwich sign
item #637Togo - No tribal association 32 x 17 1/2". Please click to see the other sign in this pair. | $1200.00 Barbershop
item #515Ghana - No tribal association This is one of the largest barbershop signs I have ever seen. It is such a great sign that is has been SOLD. Indeed this business is more diversified than just a barbershop; they make key copies and have a public phone as well. It was displayed high up in the air, above the establishment it advertised, in Accra. I admired it when I saw it and asked my agent there to buy it for me. I did not attempt to acquire it myself since I figured my chances were greater with an African interceding on my behalf. All too often, when a foreign, i.e. white, man approaches an African to purchase something that is not already for sale, the price quoted is stratospheric, either because the owner really does not want to sell or because he imagines that the foreign man actually will pay that high a price. I regret I neglected to photograph it in situ. Indeed I was not sure my agent would be successful. The sign measures 96 x 48" and is painted on both sides. Please click on the image to see the other side. |
$750.00 Barbershop/Beauty Salon Signs
item #621Togo - No tribal association This is an extraordinarily large sign, measuring 48 x 48". | $750.00 Beautiful hinged sandwich style sign
item #545Ghana - No tribal association 23 3/4 x 38". Please click on the image to see the other half of this, one of the best quality painted signs I have seen. The other side is the same size and price, $750. The full hinged sign, both sides together is $1,200. |
$400.00 Bob Marley signboards
item #599Ghana - No tribal association Of course, one of the most enduring and popular figures all across Africa is Bob Marley. His likeness is everywhere in commercial art in Africa. This signboard measures 27 x 28". Please click for 2 more; the second one measures 48 x 48", $600 and the third measures 27 x 36", $400. | $400.00 Bob Marley signs
item #543Ghana - No tribal association 35 3/4 x 39 1/2". Bob Marley is, without a doubt, the most popular musical subject for commercial art in Ghana. This painting is old and weathered. Please click on the image to see the studio where it was on display as well as another portrait of Bob from Ivory Coast, measuring 25 1/2 x 40", $500. |
$1200.00 Bodybuilder signs and Michael Johnson
item #512Ghana - No tribal association This painting measures 46 1/4 x 59". Please click on the image to see 2 more comparable signs. These were painted by commercial artists in Accra who displayed them as examples of their skill in order to attract customers who would commission their services to make signs to advertise their businesses. The second sign, a female bodybuilder measures 18 x 40 1/4" and is priced at $500. The third sign, the Michael Johnson painting measures 48 x 47". Like all signs used by commercial artists this sign shows the signs of weathering as it was kept outside. Unlike some such signs this one stood on the ground, propped against a fence, so the bottom of it is weathered to a greater extent. The price is $400. | $500.00 Boxers and other sports figures
item #797Ghana - No tribal association This painting measures 48 x 48". It is another example of a painting done by a commercial artist to promote his own business. Ghanaians love boxers especially famous ones, even if the rendition is not as exact as it could be. Does this look like Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis to you? Like everyone else in the world they admire all sports figures, like Michael Jordan, even when it is not so obvious. Please click to see a portrait of Don King, measuring 28 1/4 x 26", $350, and one of MJ which measures 30 x 24", $300. |
$75.00 Cat painting on woodSOLD 
item #585Benin - No tribal association I regret that these have all been SOLD. I am trying to find more but so far have not been able to. Please check back again or email me to find out if I have any more. These all measure about 6 x 9 1/2". These were all painted by the same studio that did the other Benin signboards on this page. They were painted to demonstrate the skill of the artist and promote the business of that studio. The words painted on each say "The Singapore the smallest cat in the world". Please click to see 2 more. | $500.00 Christ and other religious signs
item #517Ghana - No tribal association Ghana is one of the countries of West Africa with the highest proportion of Christians. Africans, no matter what their religious affiliation, are very spiritual people. Therefore it is no surprise that one of the most popular subjects for commercial artists promoting their own businesses is Jesus Christ and other religious imagery. This sign measures 32 1/2 x 21" and appears to be a saintly figure although he is unidentified. Please click on this image to see 2 more paintings, both of Christ. The "master" referred to on the second signboard is the artist. The term "master" is heard commonly in Ghana, often to mean one who excels in his field. This sign measures 40 1/2 x 24", $300. The third sign measures 32 x 48", $400. |
$475.00 Commercial art portraits
item #520Ghana - No tribal association This portrait is two-sided. Please click on the image to see the portrait on the reverse side. This sign measures 24 1/4 x 23 3/4". | $500.00 Commercial artist advertising sign
item #587Ivory Coast - No tribal association This sign measures 35 x 38 1/2". Please click on the image to see a second similar painting which measures 39 1/4 x 39 1/2", $400. Also visible when you click on the image is another painting, from Ghana, which measures 48 x 24", of 3 older men, ostensibly tribal leaders. I do not know their identities, $400. All of these signs were painted by artists to promote their own commercial art businesses. |
$600.00 Commercial artist advertising sign - coffin maker
item #614Ghana - No tribal association These signs measure 48 x 48". I commissioned these two signs to be painted as copies of an original which the owner was unwilling to sell to me. Artistic Ghanaian coffins are famous. They can be in the shape of beer bottles, rockets, cars, airplanes, fish, people, anything you can imagine. People are actually buried in them although as their fame has spread around the world they are also now collected as an art form and made that way. Obviously, it is difficult to obtain one that is genuine and used... This coffin maker has diversified, as you can see. The original sign was painted on both sides; I had each side copied as a single signboard. Please click on the image to see the other sign. Each is the same price, $600. | $350.00 Commercial artist advertising sign - second set
item #598Ghana - No tribal association This signboard measures 24 x 23". I do not know the identity of this man but when you click on the image you will see the second signboard of this set which features John Kufuor, who was the President of Ghana until just this year when the new president took office in a peaceful transfer of power, relatively unusual in Africa. This sign measures 23 3/4 x 36", $400. |
$600.00 Commercial artist advertising sign - third set
item #615Ghana - No tribal association This sign measures 43 x 61 1/2". | $400.00 Commercial artist advertising sign - youth culture
item #616Ghana - No tribal association |
$250.00 Cowrie shells
item #1035Mali - No tribal association These cowrie shells are large, measuring between 3/4" to 1 1/8"; most measure right around 1" long +/- 1/8". This bag of shells weighs 10 kg (22 lbs.) We do not count the shells nor do we guarantee the number of shells each bag contains. We know, however, that every bag contains around 5,000 shells (5 cents each). We do sell shells in smaller quantities, as follows: 1000 shells = $75 (7 1/2 cents each) | $100.00 Crocodile wari game
item #919Mali - No tribal association 32 1/2 x 4" (82.5 x 10 cm) |
$300.00 Double monkey wari
item #645Ghana - No tribal association 26 1/2 x 6 x 7" tall. | $1500.00 Elephant table
item #812Benin - No tribal association 24" diameter, 23 /4" tall, made of monkey pod wood |
$300.00 Excavated beads
item #1034Mali - No tribal association Each strand measures approximately 40" long. The price for a single strand is $10. A package of 10 is $50 = $5 per strand. This photograph shows a "sheaf" of 15 packages of 10 = 150 strands, the price for which is $300 = $2 per strand. | $500.00 Famous African musicians in artist advertising signs
item #513Ghana - No tribal association 28 x 30 1/2". This is Lucky Dube, a South African musician, famous throughout Africa, who was murdered in 2007 when he refused to surrender his cell phone to an armed robber, in Johannesburg. Please click on the image to see 2 more great African musicians immortalized in Ghanaian commercial art. The second one is Kojo Antwi, measuring 27 x 44", $600. The third measures 20 3/4 x 36". I regret I have not yet identified this musician, $400. |
$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. | $600.00 Flower stool
item #836Benin - No tribal association 19 x 11 x 18 1/2" tall |
$500.00 Full woman beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #634Togo - No tribal association 48 x 34". Please click to see the other one. | $100.00 Jerry Rawlings advertising signs
item #416Ghana - No tribal association This painting was exhibited by an artist along the road in Accra to advertise his business. It measures 23 x 25 1/4". It is a painting of Jerry Rawlings, the former and still very popular President of Ghana. Please click to see another Rawlings painting by a commercial artist advertising his own services as an artist. This painting measures 20 1/2 x 30 3/4", $200. |
$250.00 Kamassa Eloge, another Association artist
item #492Togo - No tribal association This acrylic on canvas painting measures 27 x 31". It is entitled "Crucifixion with 3 Witnesses". | $400.00 Kofi Annan commercial art signboards
item #597Ghana - No tribal association Among the many popular figures represented on Ghanaian commercial art signboards is the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi |
$500.00 Kojo Antwi
item #518Ghana - No tribal association Another favorite subject of Ghanaian commercial artists when they promote their businesses is famous Ghanaian musicians. Although unfortunately not among the most famous musicians in the US, Kojo Antwi is one of the most famous Ghanaian musicians. This sign measures 24 1/4 x 35". Please click on this image for another of this same painting, by the same artist, but in a larger size, 48 x 48". The larger signboard is priced at $600. | $900.00 Kojo Antwi and a commercial art studio
item #519Ghana - No tribal association This very large painting was painted by the artists in this picture. Please click on the image to see their studio in Accra, Ghana. They are big Kojo Antwi fans and actually do a lot of work for Kojo. Although I do not have any of the other images in this photo available at this moment, I am able to get any of those that you see here, theoretically. The beautiful black angel is painted on another outside wall of this studio. We can commission this same design, or any other, in any size. We can do anything you want in a personalized Ghanaian signboard. Please let us know what you would like. |
$95.00 Lady photographer sign
item #584Benin - No tribal association This sign measures 7 1/4 x 10 1/2". | $450.00 Large 2-Head Vertical Beauty Salon Signs
item #608Togo - No tribal association These signs all measure approximately the same: 45 x 24". Please click to see two more. |
$450.00 Large 2-Head Vertical Beauty Salon Signs - Second
item #609Togo - No tribal association | $600.00 Large 3-head beauty salon signs
item #594Togo - No tribal association This sign measures 48 x 29 1/2". Please click for another large 3-head signboard. The second one measures 48 x 24". It is the same price. |
$500.00 Large 4-head beauty salon signs
item #591Togo - No tribal association These signs measure 46 x 24". Please click to see another similar one. | $600.00 Large 6-head beauty salon signs
item #592Togo - No tribal association These measure 48 x 24". Please click to see another, similar one. |
$400.00 Large beauty salon signs
item #638Ghana - No tribal association These all measure approximately 48 x 32". Please click to see the other two. | $400.00 Large multiple head beauty salon signs
item #553Benin - No tribal association These are exceptional in that this size and this level of detail is not found anywhere else in Africa, to my knowledge. These are exclusive to Benin and possibly to this one artist or this one studio. This one measures 19 1/2 x 15 1/2". Please click on the image to see 2 more of these beautiful signs, the second of which measures 20 x 15 1/2", the third 20 x 15 3/4". All are the same price, $400 each. |
$750.00 Large multiple head beauty salon signs
item #590Togo - No tribal association This sign measures 44 x 24". Please click to see another similar one. | $350.00 Large single head barbershop sign
item #613Ghana - No tribal association 35 x 40 1/2" |
$300.00 Large vertical beauty salon signs
item #606Ghana - No tribal association This sign measures 29 x 15". Please click to see the other side of this sandwich sign, sold separately. | $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. |
$600.00 Largest multiple head beauty salon signs
item #556Benin - No tribal association These all measure approximately 39 x 24". Please click on the image to see 2 more of these unusual signs, only found in Benin. All 3 of these signs are the same price, $600 each. | $500.00 Lg 2-head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #639Togo - No tribal association 45 x 23 1/4". Please click to see the other sign in this pair, each available for the same price. |
$400.00 Lg 3-head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #641Togo - No tribal association | $600.00 Lg 4-head beauty salon and phone service sign
item #593Togo - No tribal association As cell phones have become more widespread throughout Africa, more and more people use their cell phone to offer phone service to the public. The majority of the people still do not own a phone. The availability of land lines has always been limited. Although there are many people who have set up a business offering only phone service to the public using their cell phone many other businesses take advantage of the demand thereby created to offer that service along with their regular business. It is more and more common to find beauty salons and barbershops which offer phone service too. This sign measures 48 x 32". Please click to see another one which is the same size and price. |
$400.00 Long 4-head barbershop sign
item #595Ghana - No tribal association These both measure right around 48 x 16". Please click to see the other one, both the same price. | $50.00 Long in-line portable wari game
item #906Ghana - No tribal association 12 x 2 1/2" (30.4 x 6.4 cm) |
$75.00 Long portable wari game
item #915Ghana - No tribal association 17 1/2 x 2 3/4" (44.5 x 7 cm) | $75.00 Long portable wari game
item #917Ghana - No tribal association 18 1/2 x 3 1/4" (47 x 8.3 cm) |
$500.00 Medicine Sign set
item #418Togo - No tribal association 32 x 24". This sign is one of a set of 6, of which we have two available, painted originally for a man with a business selling a medicinal product meant to cure many ailments. Please click on the image to see the other sign in this set. | $200.00 Medium size beauty salon/barbershop sign
item #583Benin - No tribal association This sign measures 15 x 19 1/2". |
$800.00 Michael Jackson commercial art painting
item #521Ghana - No tribal association This is a painting that was displayed on the outside of one of the commercial art studios I frequent to find the art that commercial artists use to advertise their own skill as painters. This signboard measures 43 3/4 x 24". Please click on the image for another signboard that was displayed at this same studio. This one measures 46 1/2 x 28". Its price is $500. | $800.00 More Bob Marley signs
item #544Ghana - No tribal association 39 3/4 x 43". This is an exceptionally large Bob Marley portrait. Please click on the image to view 2 more great Bob Marley signs. The second measures 22 1/4 x 30 1/2", $400. The third is 23 x 24", also $400. |
$250.00 More medicine signs
item #643Ivory Coast - No tribal association | $95.00 More small barbershop/beauty salon signs - vertical
item #552Benin - No tribal association This sign measures 6 1/4 x 9 1/2". Please click on the image to see 2 more small vertical signs, both barbershop signs, with multiple men heads. The second measures 5 7/8 x 9 3/4"; the third 6 1/4 x 9 7/8". All are the same price, $95 each. |
$400.00 Multiple head 2-sided beauty salon sign
item #611Ghana - No tribal association This sign has been SOLD | $400.00 multiple head beauty salon sign
item #588Togo - No tribal association This great signboard measures 24 x 12 3/4". Please click to see 2 more very fine beauty salon signs. The second measures 24 x 21 1/2"; its price is $350. The third measures 24 x 19", $300. |
$350.00 multiple head beauty salon sign - second set
item #589Togo - No tribal association This sign measures 18 1/4 x 15 1/4". Please click to see the second one in this set which measures 27 1/2 x 17 1/2" and the third one which is 23 1/2 x 11 1/2". Both the second and third are the same price, $250 each. | $500.00 Multiple head beauty salon/barbershop signs
item #547Ghana - No tribal association 24 x 21". Please click on the image to view 2 more multiple head beauty salon signs. The second one measures 20 x 35", $400. The third one is 52 3/4 x 16 3/4". I cannot explain why there is a circle cut out of this sign; I bought it that way because the quality of the painting is very good. Could it make a good clock? $150. |
$500.00 One side of a hinged sandwich style beauty salon sign & another one with both sides intact
item #329Ivory Coast - No tribal association 24 x 32", this sign is the remaining side of a sign that originally had 2 sides. Please click on the image to see another sign, from Togo, which measures 43 1/2 x 22 1/2". Each side of this large sign is priced at $400 but If you prefer to purchase both together the price for both, the full 2-sided sign, is $750. | $500.00 One-sided barbershop signs
item #334Ivory Coast - No tribal association This sign measures 34 x 26". Please click on the image to see two more single-sided signs. The second one measures 16 1/4 x 31 3/4", $300, and is from Ghana. The third, also from Ivory Coast, measures 23 1/2 x 41 3/4", $400. |
$500.00 Painted sculpture - Dentist
item #496Ghana - No tribal association 9 1/4 x 13 1/2 x 13 1/4" tall. Please click on the image for 2 closeup views. | $500.00 Painted sculpture - Man dining
item #497Ghana - No tribal association 14 5/8 x 8 1/2 x 9 1/4" tall. Please click on the image for 2 closeup views. |
$500.00 Painted sculpture - Market women
item #495Ghana - No tribal association 14 3/4 x 11 1/2 x 14" tall. Please click on the image for 2 closeup views. | $500.00 Painted sculpture - Television viewers
item #494Ghana - No tribal association 18 1/2 x 11 3/4 x 11 1/4" tall. Please click on the image for 2 closeup views. |
$100.00 Portable oval wari game
item #921Ghana - No tribal association 20 1/4 x 6" ( 51.4 x 15.2 cm) | $100.00 Portable wari game with handle
item #914Ghana - No tribal association 17 1/2 x 7 1/2" (44.5 x 19 cm) |
$295.00 Portraits
item #622Ghana - No tribal association | $75.00 Professional advertising signs
item #586Benin - No tribal association These signs all measure 10 1/2 x 6 7/8". Please click for another doctor sign and a secretary sign. All are the same price, $75. each. |
$400.00 Pyro-design Nkrumahs
item #618Ghana - No tribal association 17 3/4 x 22 1/4". These two portraits, of the first President of Ghana and his wife, date to the period of Ghanaian Independence, as evidenced by the fact that the inscription indicates that Kwame Nkrumah was the "First Prime Minister of The Gold Coast". "Akwaaba" means Welcome, in Twi, the language of the Akan people of Ghana, the largest language group in that country. Please click to see the companion portrait of Mother Ghana, the wife of the first president. Each portrait is $400. The pair is $700. | $50.00 Rectangular portable wari game - dark color
item #907Ghana - No tribal association 14 x 4 3/4" (35.6 x 12 cm) |
$50.00 Rectangular portable wari game - light color
item #908Ghana - No tribal association 14 x 4 3/4" (35.6 x 12 cm) | $600.00 Sandwich style sign
item #373Ghana - No tribal association 48 1/4 x 24 1/2". This is one side of a sandwich style sign. Please click on the image to see another sign which was originally a sandwich style sign but of which we have only the remaining side. This measures 23 x 36" and actually has the remains of a previous painting of Bob Marley on the back of it, also $600. |
$400.00 Single head sandwich sign
item #628Togo - No tribal association These two signs each measure 26 1/2 x 24". Please click to see the other one. | $125.00 Small 2 sided beauty salon sign
item #620Ghana - No tribal association 17 1/2 x 13 1/2". This sign is painted on both sides. Please click on the image to see the other side of it. |
$95.00 Small 4 head barbershop/beauty salon signs and 1 large beauty salon sign
item #554Benin - No tribal association This sign measures 5 3/4 x 10 5/8" and includes both men and women on the same sign. Please click on the image to see a similar one with only men, measuring 6 3/4 x 10 5/8", and a large one mixing men and women, measuring 27 1/2 x 16", $400. | $95.00 Small 4 head beauty salon signs - 2nd set
item #557Benin - No tribal association This sign measures 6 1/4 x 9 1/2". Please click to see another one in a similar size. |
$500.00 Small beauty salon sandwich sign
item #642Ghana - No tribal association 24 x 23". This sandwich sign can be sold as one unit or separated. The price shown is for the unit of two signs hinged together. The price for just one of the sides is half of that, $250. | $75.00 Small hairdresser signs
item #558Benin - No tribal association These small paintings on wood are novel ways of representing hairdos. They measure about 6 3/4 x 10". Please click on the image to see two more of these unusual signboards. |
$95.00 Small single head beauty salon signs
item #555Benin - No tribal association These all measure approximately 6 1/2 x 9 1/2". Please click on the image to see 2 more of these unusual signs, only found in Benin. | $45.00 Small single head sign
item #617Togo - No tribal association 10 x 10". Click for second one, 9 x 10". |
$95.00 Small vertical beauty salon signs
item #551Benin - No tribal association These signs, were ostensibly painted at the same studio in Benin which did the larger signs on this page. This one measures 6 1/4 x 10". Please click on this image to see 2 more of these. The second measures 6 1/4 x 9 3/4", also $95. The third measures 9 1/2 x 16 1/2", $200. | $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. |
$600.00 Soccer/Football stars in commercial art advertising signs
item #796Ghana - No tribal association 25 3/4 x 36" Ronaldinho, as famous in Ghana as he is around the world. Please click on the image to see 2 more similar signs. The second one, measuring 30 x 39 1/4", is of a football player I have yet to identify, $600. The third sign measures 31 x 48", featuring the Senegalese football player, El Hadji Diouf, aka Alhaji Diouf, $600. | $500.00 Two beauty salon signs displayed together
item #626Togo - No tribal association These are two separate signs, sold separately. The price for each is $500. They were both painted by the same artist, on commission for the same customer, in the same style, to advertise the same business. They were used together, hinged at the top, so the unit was visible from two sides. We take the two apart and sell them separately. These two measure 38 3/4 x 31 1/2". Please click to see the other sign in this pair. |
$300.00 Two-sided 4-head beauty salon sign
item #604Togo - No tribal association This nice old beauty salon sign has some damage in the center and is quite worn around the edges which are evidence of its age and long usefulness to the owner. It measures 33 1/4 x 29 1/2". Please click to see the other side. | $450.00 Vertical 3-head beauty salon sandwich sign pair
item #635Togo - No tribal association 44 3/4 x 18". Please click to see the other one. |
$550.00 Vertical design barbershop signs
item #550Benin - No tribal association I think these are more of the work of the studio in Cotonou, Les Arts Junior, though there is no identification on these signs. Most of their work is for beauty salons, with representations of women and their hair styles. This is one they have done of men, for barbershops. Ths measures 15 x 32". Please click on the photo to see 2 more signs featuring women. The second one measures 10 x 16 1/2", the third 9 3/4 x 16 3/4". Both of these last 2 signs are $200 each. | $250.00 Vertical design beauty salon signs
item #549Benin - No tribal association These appear to me more of the work of the studio in Cotonou, Les Arts Junior, though there is no identification on these signs. This one measures 9 1/2 x 23 1/2". Please click on the photo to see 2 more signs of this quality, by the same studio. The second measures 9 3/4 x 16", the third 9 3/4 x 16 1/2". The second and third are both $200 each. |
$100.00 Wari game on base - dark color
item #912Ghana - No tribal association 24 x 6 1/2 x 4" (61 x 16.5 x 10 cm) There is a storage area for the playing pieces in the base of this game. | $100.00 wari game on base - light color
item #911Ghana - No tribal association 24 x 6 1/2 x 4" (61 x 16.5 x 10 cm) There is a storage area for the playing pieces in the base of this game. |
$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. | $400.00 Woman commercial art advertising signboards
item #524Ghana - No tribal association I found this weathered painting at a commercial art studio in Kumasi, Ghana. The ability of this artist is superior to most. This sign measures 16 1/2 x 27". Please click on the image for one more of his paintings. This one measures 30 1/2 x 18 1/2". |
$400.00 woodblock stool - fifth set
item #539Ivory Coast - No tribal association 22" tall. Please click on the image to see another view of this great, if sculptural by chance, object. The fascinating thing about these stools is that every time you turn them they look different. Also here is another one, 22 1/2" tall. | $400.00 woodblock stool - first set
item #535Ivory Coast - No tribal association 21 1/2". The man who made these stools did not start out with the intention of making a stool. He chose a hardwood log against which he chopped softer wood into pieces people use to burn to cook over. The log serves to protect the choppers axe. The majority of people in Africa cook over open flames. Wood is the fuel. Slowly, after a lot of wood has been chopped, the log is worn away. The man turns it so it wears evenly and just before it breaks through he stands it up and uses it as a stool. Please click on the image to see 2 more of these haphazardly sculptural objects. The second one measures 19 1/2", the third 19 3/4". |
$600.00 woodblock stool - fourth set
item #538Ivory Coast - No tribal association 22" tall. This stool is exceptional among a stool type that is exceptional. Please click on the image to view two more of the regular variety of these beautiful sculptural stools, each of which is $400. The second one of those measures 20" tall, the third one 24". | $400.00 woodblock stool - second set
item #536Ivory Coast - No tribal association 22 1/2", please click on the image to see 2 more of these unusual design stools. The second measures 18" tall, the third 21" tall. |
$400.00 woodblock stool - third set
item #537Ivory Coast - No tribal association 20" tall, please click on the image to see 2 more: the second is 28" tall, the third 21". |
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