A bronze vessel - Akan - Ghana
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Selected by Dimitri André
Holds a postgraduate degree in African studies and 15 years experience in African art.
Estimate € 1,400 - € 1,600
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The bronze vessel, titled “A bronze vessel”, is an Akan work from Ghana, collected in the Kumasi Region, and depicts a leopard carrying an antelope.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Akan – Ritual Vessel in the Shape of a Leopard with an Antelope
Ghana, Kumasi Region
Copper alloy with a high zinc content, lost-wax casting
Height: 18 cm
Length: 24 cm
Weight: 1.9 kg
Inv. No. CAB21714
Provenance: Collected in the Kumasi Region, Ghana
No scientific test report is provided for this piece. Its age and geographical origin have therefore not been verified
Description
This extraordinary figurative vessel made of a copper alloy originates from the Akan cultural sphere in present-day Ghana and was collected in the Kumasi region, the historic center of the Ashanti Kingdom. It depicts a powerfully stylized leopard carrying a slain antelope in its mouth. Rising from its back is a bulbous lidded vessel, the walls of which are adorned with relief-carved crocodiles. The leopard has an elongated body, powerful legs, a lowered head with protruding eyes, and a tail curved into an almost ring-like shape. Numerous circular ornaments with relief-like borders cover its body, symbolizing the characteristic fur pattern. The spherical vessel is connected to the animal’s body via a tapered neck. Its sides feature depictions of crocodiles with raised rows of scales, prominent eyes, and carefully modeled limbs. Two lateral ring handles, as well as finely crafted interlaced and arched ornaments along the rim of the vessel, complement the elaborate design. A flat, slightly domed lid seals the container. A remarkable figurative scene is depicted on its interior: A leopard mother has brought back a killed antelope and is offering it to her cubs to eat. The young leopards gather around the prey, while the mother stands over them. This depiction complements the external scene of the hunt with the motif of feeding and care. The surface has a warm golden-brown color with darker areas of oxidation, greenish deposits, and distinct signs of wear. The traditionally high zinc content contributes to the characteristic golden appearance of the copper alloy.
Art-Historical Analysis
Akan metalwork is one of West Africa’s most significant artistic traditions. In addition to gold weights, insignia of authority, and decorative objects, richly decorated vessels were created that could serve both courtly and ritual purposes. These were primarily produced using the lost-wax casting technique, which allowed for intricate three-dimensional design. Copper alloys reached the region via extensive trade networks, with European trade playing an increasingly important role from the 15th century onward. Gold-colored brass, in particular, was prized for its durability and its visual resemblance to prestigious gold.
The Leopard as a Symbol of Royal Power
Within Akan and Ashanti culture, the leopard embodies strength, authority, and royal sovereignty. Its ability to overpower prey symbolizes political assertiveness and sovereign power. The depiction of the leopard holding an antelope in its mouth can accordingly be interpreted as an expression of superiority. This symbolism is notably expanded by the scene on the inside of the lid. Here, the mother leopard appears not solely as a dangerous predator, but as a caring creature that uses its prey to feed her young. The antelope she has killed thus becomes both a sign of power and a prerequisite for survival. This juxtaposition opens up a possible interpretation of ideal rule, in which authority is based not solely on strength, but equally on protection and responsibility toward the community. The deliberate placement of the two scenes on the exterior and interior of the vessel lends it an additional narrative dimension. Only by opening the lid does the complementary visual message become apparent. Such depictions may be connected to the Akan proverbial tradition, in which animal imagery conveys social and moral concepts.
The Symbolism of Crocodiles
The three-dimensionally rendered crocodiles expand the iconographic program to include another significant symbolic animal. Within Akan cosmology, crocodiles can embody adaptability, strength, and protection. Their existence in both water and on land also allows for symbolic references to different spheres of life. In conjunction with the leopard, a multi-layered visual composition emerges in which power, survival, and natural forces appear intertwined.
Ritual Function and Art-Historical Classification
The vessel shows clear connections to the tradition of the so-called kuduo—richly decorated metal containers that were associated with prestige, wealth, and spiritual beliefs within Akan society. Such objects could contain valuable substances and be used in courtly or ritual contexts. This bronze vessel stands out due to its unusual combination of a fully three-dimensional leopard with a vessel resting on its back. Particularly noteworthy is the hidden scene on the inside of the lid, which becomes visible only when the vessel is in use. The old patina and signs of wear are consistent with a long history of use but, in and of themselves, do not indicate a specific ritual function. The elaborate casting technique and the complex animal iconography suggest the work of a specialized metalworker. Kumasi, Bono Manso, and Begho were among the major historical centers of metalworking.
Art-Historical Assessment
The vessel combines figurative design, technical precision, and symbolic significance. Its uniqueness lies in the juxtaposition of the hunt and maternal care, through which strength and responsibility appear as interconnected principles. The combination of leopard, antelope, and crocodiles, as well as the narrative relationship between the exterior and interior, make the work a remarkable example of Akan figurative metal art.
Bibliography
Frank Willett, *African Art: An Introduction*, 1971. Comparable examples of Akan metalwork can be found, among other places, at the British Museum in London, the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris, and the National Museum of Ghana in Accra.
Copyright and Scientific Documentation
Some of the information and photographs have been generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and are based on published sources in ethnography, archaeology, and art history. Original texts and photographs may be protected by copyright. All rights held by the respective rights holders are reserved.
Catawiki does not issue Certificates of Authenticity for traditional or ancient African art objects. Our Terms and Traditional African Art Submission Guidelines require sellers to provide accurate and complete information regarding the authenticity, provenance and legal origin of their objects and, where applicable, supporting documentation. The guidelines do not require such documentation to take the form of an independently issued Certificate of Authenticity in every case.
Where a seller provides a self-issued certificate or declaration concerning authenticity, this represents the seller's own statement and should not be understood as independent third-party certification or certification by Catawiki. If the listing expressly states that a Certificate of Authenticity will be provided with the object, the seller is expected to provide that document as described.
Catawiki's experts perform a virtual review based on the information, photographs, provenance and supporting documentation provided during the submission process. Acceptance of a traditional or ancient African art object for auction does not constitute independent authentication or certification by Catawiki, nor does it mean that Catawiki's expert has physically or scientifically authenticated, patina-analyzed, or dated the object. Under our Terms and Traditional African Art Submission Guidelines, the seller remains responsible for the accuracy, legality, provenance and authenticity of the object and the information provided.
Seller's Story
Wolfgang Jaenicke’s engagement with African art did not begin in the field or the marketplace but in a quieter, more inward space—among papers, books, and objects that belonged to his father. The archive on Germany’s former colonies was not arranged to tell a single story; it suggested many. It invited scrutiny rather than reverence, and it taught Jaenicke early on that objects are never mute. They carry time inside them—fracture and continuity held in the same form—and they ask to be read as carefully as texts.
For more than a quarter century, Jaenicke has worked as a collector, dealer, and intermediary, though none of these terms quite captures the shape of his practice. What used to be grouped, too casually, under the heading of “Tribal Art” has never appeared to him as a sealed or historical category. It is, instead, a set of living traditions, constantly negotiating the present. His academic training—in ethnology, art history, and comparative law—provided a grammar. The language itself he learned elsewhere. In Mali, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ghana, knowledge emerged slowly, through repeated encounters that hardened into relationships, and through trust built not all at once but over years.
Mali became the gravitational center of this experience. Between 2002 and 2012, Jaenicke lived and worked in Bamako and Ségou, where he ran Tribalartforum, a gallery overlooking the Niger River. The space resisted easy chronology. Sculptures and ceramics shared the room with photography, and works by Malick Sidibé—images of Malian youth in the 1970s, self-assured and exuberant—hung alongside older ritual forms. The effect was not nostalgic but clarifying: past and present did not cancel each other out; they sharpened one another.
The war of 2012 ended this chapter abruptly, as wars tend to do. But it did not dissolve the work. Together with Aguibou Kamaté, Jaenicke regrouped in Lomé, closer to the places where many of the objects originated and to the routes they continue to travel. Since 2018, Berlin has become another point on this map. Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke now operates opposite Charlottenburg Palace, supported by a small team of specialists. Its focus rests, in particular, on West African bronzes and terracottas—materials shaped by earth and fire, and by forms of memory that resist easy translation.
What distinguishes Jaenicke’s practice is not only its geographical range but its internal tension. Fieldwork is paired with provenance research; commerce is treated as inseparable from responsibility. In collaboration with museums and scholarly initiatives, circulation is framed not as extraction but as an ethical process that remains unfinished. The aim is not to remove objects from the world and seal them off, but to keep them readable within it—to allow them to continue speaking, even as the conditions of their speech change.
------------
Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke is a Berlin-based gallery specializing in West African sculpture, bronzes, terracottas, masks, and contemporary African art. It is directed by Wolfgang Jaenicke, whose work combines collecting, dealing, provenance research, fieldwork, and archival documentation.
According to the gallery’s own account, Jaenicke studied ethnology, art history, and comparative law and has worked in the field of African art for more than twenty-five years. His activities developed through long-term engagement in countries including Mali, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo. Rather than presenting African art as a closed historical category, he describes it as a continuing cultural tradition shaped by living communities and changing historical contexts.
A particularly important phase of his career was in Mali, where he lived and worked between roughly 2002 and 2012 in Bamako and Ségou. There he operated Tribalartforum, a gallery that combined historical African sculpture with contemporary African photography, including works by Malick Sidibé. The political and military crisis in Mali in 2012 led to the closure of this phase of activity.
Later, together with Aguibou Kamaté, Jaenicke continued working from Lomé, Togo, before establishing a gallery presence in Berlin near Charlottenburg Palace. The gallery places particular emphasis on West African bronzes, terracottas, Benin and Ife-related works, Nok sculpture, Dogon art, Baule sculpture, Senufo objects, and Yoruba material.
One distinctive aspect of Jaenicke’s public position is his repeated emphasis on provenance transparency and restitution debates. On several published object records, the gallery explicitly discusses issues surrounding export documentation, UNESCO conventions, ownership histories, and communication with scholars and restitution researchers. These statements reflect broader contemporary debates about the circulation of African cultural heritage, legality, collecting history, and museum acquisition practices.
The gallery maintains extensive online archives and catalogues documenting hundreds of African objects, including Benin and Ife bronzes, Nok terracottas, Dogon sculptures, Baule figures, Fon objects, Moba figures, and other West African material.
For researchers interested in the history of the African art trade, Jaenicke represents a later generation of dealers compared with figures such as John J. Klejman. Whereas Klejman belonged to the postwar New York market of the 1950s–1970s, Jaenicke’s work has been shaped by contemporary concerns with field documentation, provenance research, restitution discussions, digital archives, and direct engagement with West African networks and artists.
This text is based on AI Information
Akan – Ritual Vessel in the Shape of a Leopard with an Antelope
Ghana, Kumasi Region
Copper alloy with a high zinc content, lost-wax casting
Height: 18 cm
Length: 24 cm
Weight: 1.9 kg
Inv. No. CAB21714
Provenance: Collected in the Kumasi Region, Ghana
No scientific test report is provided for this piece. Its age and geographical origin have therefore not been verified
Description
This extraordinary figurative vessel made of a copper alloy originates from the Akan cultural sphere in present-day Ghana and was collected in the Kumasi region, the historic center of the Ashanti Kingdom. It depicts a powerfully stylized leopard carrying a slain antelope in its mouth. Rising from its back is a bulbous lidded vessel, the walls of which are adorned with relief-carved crocodiles. The leopard has an elongated body, powerful legs, a lowered head with protruding eyes, and a tail curved into an almost ring-like shape. Numerous circular ornaments with relief-like borders cover its body, symbolizing the characteristic fur pattern. The spherical vessel is connected to the animal’s body via a tapered neck. Its sides feature depictions of crocodiles with raised rows of scales, prominent eyes, and carefully modeled limbs. Two lateral ring handles, as well as finely crafted interlaced and arched ornaments along the rim of the vessel, complement the elaborate design. A flat, slightly domed lid seals the container. A remarkable figurative scene is depicted on its interior: A leopard mother has brought back a killed antelope and is offering it to her cubs to eat. The young leopards gather around the prey, while the mother stands over them. This depiction complements the external scene of the hunt with the motif of feeding and care. The surface has a warm golden-brown color with darker areas of oxidation, greenish deposits, and distinct signs of wear. The traditionally high zinc content contributes to the characteristic golden appearance of the copper alloy.
Art-Historical Analysis
Akan metalwork is one of West Africa’s most significant artistic traditions. In addition to gold weights, insignia of authority, and decorative objects, richly decorated vessels were created that could serve both courtly and ritual purposes. These were primarily produced using the lost-wax casting technique, which allowed for intricate three-dimensional design. Copper alloys reached the region via extensive trade networks, with European trade playing an increasingly important role from the 15th century onward. Gold-colored brass, in particular, was prized for its durability and its visual resemblance to prestigious gold.
The Leopard as a Symbol of Royal Power
Within Akan and Ashanti culture, the leopard embodies strength, authority, and royal sovereignty. Its ability to overpower prey symbolizes political assertiveness and sovereign power. The depiction of the leopard holding an antelope in its mouth can accordingly be interpreted as an expression of superiority. This symbolism is notably expanded by the scene on the inside of the lid. Here, the mother leopard appears not solely as a dangerous predator, but as a caring creature that uses its prey to feed her young. The antelope she has killed thus becomes both a sign of power and a prerequisite for survival. This juxtaposition opens up a possible interpretation of ideal rule, in which authority is based not solely on strength, but equally on protection and responsibility toward the community. The deliberate placement of the two scenes on the exterior and interior of the vessel lends it an additional narrative dimension. Only by opening the lid does the complementary visual message become apparent. Such depictions may be connected to the Akan proverbial tradition, in which animal imagery conveys social and moral concepts.
The Symbolism of Crocodiles
The three-dimensionally rendered crocodiles expand the iconographic program to include another significant symbolic animal. Within Akan cosmology, crocodiles can embody adaptability, strength, and protection. Their existence in both water and on land also allows for symbolic references to different spheres of life. In conjunction with the leopard, a multi-layered visual composition emerges in which power, survival, and natural forces appear intertwined.
Ritual Function and Art-Historical Classification
The vessel shows clear connections to the tradition of the so-called kuduo—richly decorated metal containers that were associated with prestige, wealth, and spiritual beliefs within Akan society. Such objects could contain valuable substances and be used in courtly or ritual contexts. This bronze vessel stands out due to its unusual combination of a fully three-dimensional leopard with a vessel resting on its back. Particularly noteworthy is the hidden scene on the inside of the lid, which becomes visible only when the vessel is in use. The old patina and signs of wear are consistent with a long history of use but, in and of themselves, do not indicate a specific ritual function. The elaborate casting technique and the complex animal iconography suggest the work of a specialized metalworker. Kumasi, Bono Manso, and Begho were among the major historical centers of metalworking.
Art-Historical Assessment
The vessel combines figurative design, technical precision, and symbolic significance. Its uniqueness lies in the juxtaposition of the hunt and maternal care, through which strength and responsibility appear as interconnected principles. The combination of leopard, antelope, and crocodiles, as well as the narrative relationship between the exterior and interior, make the work a remarkable example of Akan figurative metal art.
Bibliography
Frank Willett, *African Art: An Introduction*, 1971. Comparable examples of Akan metalwork can be found, among other places, at the British Museum in London, the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris, and the National Museum of Ghana in Accra.
Copyright and Scientific Documentation
Some of the information and photographs have been generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and are based on published sources in ethnography, archaeology, and art history. Original texts and photographs may be protected by copyright. All rights held by the respective rights holders are reserved.
Catawiki does not issue Certificates of Authenticity for traditional or ancient African art objects. Our Terms and Traditional African Art Submission Guidelines require sellers to provide accurate and complete information regarding the authenticity, provenance and legal origin of their objects and, where applicable, supporting documentation. The guidelines do not require such documentation to take the form of an independently issued Certificate of Authenticity in every case.
Where a seller provides a self-issued certificate or declaration concerning authenticity, this represents the seller's own statement and should not be understood as independent third-party certification or certification by Catawiki. If the listing expressly states that a Certificate of Authenticity will be provided with the object, the seller is expected to provide that document as described.
Catawiki's experts perform a virtual review based on the information, photographs, provenance and supporting documentation provided during the submission process. Acceptance of a traditional or ancient African art object for auction does not constitute independent authentication or certification by Catawiki, nor does it mean that Catawiki's expert has physically or scientifically authenticated, patina-analyzed, or dated the object. Under our Terms and Traditional African Art Submission Guidelines, the seller remains responsible for the accuracy, legality, provenance and authenticity of the object and the information provided.
Seller's Story
Wolfgang Jaenicke’s engagement with African art did not begin in the field or the marketplace but in a quieter, more inward space—among papers, books, and objects that belonged to his father. The archive on Germany’s former colonies was not arranged to tell a single story; it suggested many. It invited scrutiny rather than reverence, and it taught Jaenicke early on that objects are never mute. They carry time inside them—fracture and continuity held in the same form—and they ask to be read as carefully as texts.
For more than a quarter century, Jaenicke has worked as a collector, dealer, and intermediary, though none of these terms quite captures the shape of his practice. What used to be grouped, too casually, under the heading of “Tribal Art” has never appeared to him as a sealed or historical category. It is, instead, a set of living traditions, constantly negotiating the present. His academic training—in ethnology, art history, and comparative law—provided a grammar. The language itself he learned elsewhere. In Mali, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ghana, knowledge emerged slowly, through repeated encounters that hardened into relationships, and through trust built not all at once but over years.
Mali became the gravitational center of this experience. Between 2002 and 2012, Jaenicke lived and worked in Bamako and Ségou, where he ran Tribalartforum, a gallery overlooking the Niger River. The space resisted easy chronology. Sculptures and ceramics shared the room with photography, and works by Malick Sidibé—images of Malian youth in the 1970s, self-assured and exuberant—hung alongside older ritual forms. The effect was not nostalgic but clarifying: past and present did not cancel each other out; they sharpened one another.
The war of 2012 ended this chapter abruptly, as wars tend to do. But it did not dissolve the work. Together with Aguibou Kamaté, Jaenicke regrouped in Lomé, closer to the places where many of the objects originated and to the routes they continue to travel. Since 2018, Berlin has become another point on this map. Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke now operates opposite Charlottenburg Palace, supported by a small team of specialists. Its focus rests, in particular, on West African bronzes and terracottas—materials shaped by earth and fire, and by forms of memory that resist easy translation.
What distinguishes Jaenicke’s practice is not only its geographical range but its internal tension. Fieldwork is paired with provenance research; commerce is treated as inseparable from responsibility. In collaboration with museums and scholarly initiatives, circulation is framed not as extraction but as an ethical process that remains unfinished. The aim is not to remove objects from the world and seal them off, but to keep them readable within it—to allow them to continue speaking, even as the conditions of their speech change.
------------
Galerie Wolfgang Jaenicke is a Berlin-based gallery specializing in West African sculpture, bronzes, terracottas, masks, and contemporary African art. It is directed by Wolfgang Jaenicke, whose work combines collecting, dealing, provenance research, fieldwork, and archival documentation.
According to the gallery’s own account, Jaenicke studied ethnology, art history, and comparative law and has worked in the field of African art for more than twenty-five years. His activities developed through long-term engagement in countries including Mali, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo. Rather than presenting African art as a closed historical category, he describes it as a continuing cultural tradition shaped by living communities and changing historical contexts.
A particularly important phase of his career was in Mali, where he lived and worked between roughly 2002 and 2012 in Bamako and Ségou. There he operated Tribalartforum, a gallery that combined historical African sculpture with contemporary African photography, including works by Malick Sidibé. The political and military crisis in Mali in 2012 led to the closure of this phase of activity.
Later, together with Aguibou Kamaté, Jaenicke continued working from Lomé, Togo, before establishing a gallery presence in Berlin near Charlottenburg Palace. The gallery places particular emphasis on West African bronzes, terracottas, Benin and Ife-related works, Nok sculpture, Dogon art, Baule sculpture, Senufo objects, and Yoruba material.
One distinctive aspect of Jaenicke’s public position is his repeated emphasis on provenance transparency and restitution debates. On several published object records, the gallery explicitly discusses issues surrounding export documentation, UNESCO conventions, ownership histories, and communication with scholars and restitution researchers. These statements reflect broader contemporary debates about the circulation of African cultural heritage, legality, collecting history, and museum acquisition practices.
The gallery maintains extensive online archives and catalogues documenting hundreds of African objects, including Benin and Ife bronzes, Nok terracottas, Dogon sculptures, Baule figures, Fon objects, Moba figures, and other West African material.
For researchers interested in the history of the African art trade, Jaenicke represents a later generation of dealers compared with figures such as John J. Klejman. Whereas Klejman belonged to the postwar New York market of the 1950s–1970s, Jaenicke’s work has been shaped by contemporary concerns with field documentation, provenance research, restitution discussions, digital archives, and direct engagement with West African networks and artists.
This text is based on AI Information
Details
Ethnic group/ culture
Akan
Country of Origin
Ghana
Material
Bronze
Sold with stand
No
Condition
Fair condition
Title of artwork
A bronze vessel
Height
18 cm
Depth
24 cm
Weight
1.9 kg
Sold by
GermanyVerified
protop
Rechtliche Informationen des Verkäufers
- Unternehmen:
- Jaenicke Njoya GmbH
- Repräsentant:
- Wolfgang Jaenicke
- Adresse:
- Jaenicke Njoya GmbH
Klausenerplatz 7
14059 Berlin
GERMANY - Telefonnummer:
- +493033951033
- Email:
- w.jaenicke@jaenicke-njoya.com
- USt-IdNr.:
- DE241193499
AGB
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