The Tribal Arts of Africa [Hardcover]

Jean-Baptiste Bacquart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

This work displays and defines the fruits of thousands of years of black African creative endeavour. All the objects included were made by Africans for their own use, spanning a period from the beginning of the first millennium to the early 20th century, before the commercial production of art aimed at the tourist trade. Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, has divided Africa south of the Sahara into 49 cultural areas. Each section studies the most important tribe within the area, surveying its social and political structures as well as its artistic production. The art is analyzed according to type - in most instances masks, statues, and everyday objects, such as utensils, furniture and jewelry. Where appropriate, further information on artistically related tribes is then provided. Each section contains its own bibliography. A detailed reference section with information on key collectors, collections open to the public and a glossary completes this publication.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The layout is particularly interesting because it intersperses dramatic color photographs with small black-and-white photographs and text about the art, the tribes and the traditions. Written by the former head of the tribal arts department at Sotheby's, the book is an excellent introduction to African art created before 1920. -- USA Today, Deirdre Donahue, 3 December 1998

[A]nother seductive picture book, with one with a strong didactic intent....A handy reference indeed. -- Houston Chronicle, Patricia C. Johnson, 6 December 1998

About the Author

Jean-Baptiste Bacquart is head of the Tribal Art department at Sotheby's, London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500018707
• ISBN-13: 978-0500018705
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,676,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An encyclopaedic work, May 13, 2004

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Tribal Arts of Africa (Paperback)

This beautiful book on the art of Africa south of the Sahara explores 49 cultural areas as regards their artistic production and their political and social structures. The 49 areas are broadly divided under sections for the coast of West Africa; inland West Africa; Nigeria and Cameroon; Gabon and Zaire; and Eastern and Southern Africa.

Each section has its own bibliography. The book includes 865 illustrations of which a least 195 are full color photographs. There are also many maps of the areas under study. The reference section at the end encompasses a further bibliography, lists of major museums and major dealers in African art, a glossary and an index.

The book is a masterpiece that makes accessible the entire panoply of black African tribal arts from the first millennium to the end of the nineteenth century. It is an indispensable reference source for the serious collector and a beautiful encyclopaedia for any art lover.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly surprised, great value, August 7, 2005

By 

S. Kelly (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tribal Arts of Africa (Paperback)

My husband and I recently purchased a mask at an African and Caribbean festival. We loved the mask, and it definitely found its home over our fireplace. However, the vendor only could tell us that the mask was from Mali. With a desire to learn about our mask (which sports some unusual features) I decided to purchase a book, with no idea whether or not information about my mask would be included. I browsed on Amazon and located this book.

I was very pleasantly surprised, not only was our mask in the book, but the book contained beautiful photos and histories of masks from every region in Africa. Although it is a paperback, it is sturdy, and the glossy photos are stunning. We will definitely use it, to guide us in future purchases.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but AFRICAN MASKS is a better book on this subject, September 25, 2004

By 

Oksana (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tribal Arts of Africa (Paperback)

AFRICAN MASKS by Iris Hahner-Herzog is a superior book because the color plates are more numerous, larger and printed with greater resolution. Some of the photos in Tribal Arts, especially the smaller black & white ones, were difficult to read about because the plates were scattered across the pages in no apparent relation to their descriptions in the text. What's worse is, some had no descriptions at all and some art was referred to where there were no photos. While trying to indentify a particular mask that I owned, I found I had to skim the text backwards, to try to find the description of a photo...since photos that were on the righthand page were described earlier in the text (on the lefthand page). Whomever edited this book seemed to have no regard for a visually organized presentation.

The CONTENTS were divided regionally and then sub-dived by tribes in those regions, this was informative and helpful, especially if one is trying to identify a masks (and you know the region by not the tribe). This IS a very good book for someone who is a collector or very interested in the subject, but if you are just buying ONE book on this subject, IMO, AFRICAN MAKSKS is the better book.