The geographic location of the tribe is a very important factor.   The style of the works of art produced in the coastal regions has come under European influences which did not affect the less accessible interior until much later.  Even today, there are

tribes which have no contact with the outside world, who are sculpting works that could be classed among those of primeval art while at the same time being contemporary.

I have observed that authentic sculptures are classed generally in three principal categories:

1. The objects of the first period, which I call primeval, come to us directly from the ancestral traditions of the bush and the African forest.  These are entirely pure and original creations that have not been subjected to any foreign influence.  They are extremely rare pieces and are obviously the most in demand.

2. The objects of the intermediary period, which are always worked in the style of the preceding one, have nevertheless undergone certain alterations due to foreign contributions to the culture.  Some of them are notably adorned with imported decorative elements: paint of European origin, copper nails, shotgun cartridges, Venetian or Arabian glass beads, some of which may date back several centuries.  These objects are equally as valuable and legitimate as those in the first period, although less rare.

3. The style of the objects of the third period is characterized by a marked decadence due to considerable foreign influence. This influence can be either intertribal or European.  The sex of the figures is less apparent, being clad in loincloths at the instigation of the missionaries.  Some statues even have sandals.  The traditional secular forms give way to a certain creative audacity, at times delightful, but showing definite signs of decadence.  I would say without hesitation, however, that there are indisputable masterpieces of African art among the objects of the third period.

The stylistic classification of various pieces, Dogon, Fang, Baule and others, must be the subject of a separate study to be undertaken by ethnologist with a perfect knowledge of the ethnic cultures concerned.

In conclusion, it is essential to state unequivocally that the appearance of a work of art in one of the three periods mentioned above has, I repeat, nothing to do with its date of creation.  Some tribes in contact with the outside were producing works of the third period a half century ago, while in our day, others belonging to the same ethnic race will continue to remain in that period for as long as they have no contact with the outside.

We should not, however, totally reject those African objects directly inspired by Europeans; the Lenin bronzes and certain ivories of Portuguese workmanship are examples.  The African made fetishes representing everything that appeared to him to be invested with a supernatural power.  He went even so far as to draw on Christianity as a source of inspiration.

In the 15th century, when the Portuguese landed in the Boma region and went up river, at first in search of slaves and then to conquer the Congo kingdom, the Africans observed the celebration of the mass, noting especially that before going into combat the troops were blessed by a priest carrying a crucifix.  Naturally, they concluded that the victory of the whites was due to the extraordinary power of this fetish, which they adopted and named Kangi Kiditu.  These fetishes were for the most part made in a large workshop in the Tomboco region and became the symbol of power and invulnerability.   They were carried by important chiefs and have taken their place in the pantheon of sacred Bakongo sculptures alongside the famous nail fetishes.  One can only admire the talent of those sculptors who knew how to give an African stamp and style to these objects of such remote origin.

The Dutch, the French, and the English, who only remained for short periods of time, followed the Portuguese armies.  However, they always left behind settlers and missionaries, who all had a more or less marked influence on Bakongo art.  It should be noted that style of the objects from these areas is almost always figurative, therefore necessarily inspired by Europe, however African it may be in appearance.  One must go towards the interior to find the very stylized or totally abstract composition, which is the truly original contribution of African art to world sculpture.

One last example: around 1930, the governor commissioned some sculptors of Lobi to do a group of chairs for which he furnished the design.  This model was directly inspired by the traditional Lobi tripod, but decorated with a double head (Janus head) in profile which recalls somewhat the design of the souvenirs in ebony found in Dakar.  These objects were obviously fakes, but later on, the Lobis, having greatly admired this type of chair, continued to construct it for their personal use. This is a typical example of an authentic object having drawn its inspiration from a fake object.  The fact, unique to primitive art, that a copy or even a fake could have been executed prior to the authentic object makes the experts’ task extremely complex.

American customs laws allow any object dating back more than 100 years to enter the U.S. duty free.  A recent law has just fixed the age for objects of primitive art at 50 years.  Nevertheless, even the U.S. government admits that the very large majority of black art objects that enter the U.S. duty free are not even nearly 50 years old.  As a consultant to U.S. Customs, I have often been called upon to make a decision on the age of objects to be imported.  In this country, where everything rests on formal and material proof, I have had great difficulty making the authorities admit that it is impossible to prove the exact age of an African or Oceanic sculpture because they have practically all been done in the same style for several centuries.  If this article helps to clarify the misunderstanding on the application of a date for African sculptures, a great purpose will have been served.

The public must become aware of these two facts:

1. It is not possible to set a date for a black art object.

2. If it were possible to do so (for example, based on information concerning the person who collected it or date it was brought back from Africa), this would have no bearing on its authenticity.

Collectors must end the practice of making inquiries as to the age of their pieces or those they wish to acquire, and concern themselves more with the sculpture of the object, its origin, its function, its eventual rarity, and especially its quality.  Dealers must refrain from praising the antiquity of an object, declaring that "this is 100 years old", or making similar claims, each more exaggerated than the last.  Museums must set an example and avoid publishing catalogues like the one for the centennial of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), in which I was amazed to see objects from the Museum of Primitive Art collection arbitrarily classified under such periods as the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.  These objects, moreover admirable ones, which figure among the most beautiful of African sculptures, should not have been catalogued in this manner. This does not serve the cause of African art, but creates confusion in the minds of the public.

Finally, it is especially important that the experts called upon to judge the authenticity of an object not do so only on the basis of apparent or even real antiquity (for example, on the date at which the piece was brought back from Africa).  Nor should they allow themselves to be impressed by the fact that a piece comes from an old collection or that it is shown in an auction catalogue that appeared between the two wars. These indications, all useful at times, are far from being decisive.

Copies and Fakes
Obviously, an object made outside of Africa is a fake.  Specialized ateliers exist, notably in Germany, Belgium and France, which produce imitations in known designs easily recognizable by experts. The determining facts are the type of wood used, the technique for obtaining patination, the tool used by the sculptor (for which one must know how to recognize the marks), and finally the style, which remains the essential factor of the expertise.

Where the tool is concerned, the European forger most frequently uses a steel chisel, while the African artist generally employs an adze of forged iron. The trained eye always detects the difference because the marks are made in the opposite direction; the steel chisel upward and the adze downwards, and the chisel marks are usually much longer than those of the adze.

There are also other details, such as the marks of normal wear and the manner in which the holes are bored in order to attach the mask.  For example, the European or African forger employs a more or less perfected drill.  The native sculptor employs fire-heated iron, repeating the process several times, which invariably makes an uneven hole.  A talented forger can also do this, but he does not always think of duplicating the wear in the holes caused by the rubbing of the cords holding the mask in place.  The dancer's teeth marks on the bit, which serves to hold the mask, are equally an indication.  Finally, on old masks there are the trustworthy traces of erosion, worms, and insects, especially termites.

Some novice forgers are content to take a casting of a famous piece and reproduce it.  In this case even a child could tell the difference.  But others are more clever and have offered proof of certain originality.  One must then examine the patina very closely, this being the most difficult of all to duplicate.  Some are satisfied with dyeing the mask, or even painting it, which is very easily detected by touching it with solvent.  In Africa this is the case for numerous mass produced fakes.  An ordinary needle and a little solvent are often the basic instruments of a preliminary examination.

A classic patination technique done in Europe consists of burning the wood, coating it with oil, repeating the operation several times, and then polishing the object with wax.  It is possible to detect this by introducing a needle horizontally under the surface, which invariably releases ashes if the objects are a fake.  But neither is this an absolute proof, for in some areas, notably Gabon and the Congo, authentic objects have been dyed following this process of "patina by fire".  Solutions of a base or acid are also used in order to erode the wood's surface.  This is equally detectable, either by the naked eye or in the laboratory.

Inserting a fine point into the wood duplicates wormholes. Some have even used shotgun pellets. If it is possible to introduce a needle straight into the hole, more than likely it was not made by a worm, which always leaves a zigzag path.