West African Bronze Masterworks

Long awaited by collectors, scholars, and enthusiasts, this book illustrates the bronze pieces, most of which have never before been published, collected by Syrop during more than 40 years of passionate, attentive, and untiring research. An architect by profession and a collector by instinct, Arnold Syrop was a pioneer for his interest in this particular area of African material culture, developing what Susan Kloman in her introduction calls “one of the best eyes” in the field of African bronze artifacts. As remarked by the author/collector in his preface, these bronzes are for the most part “spiritual in nature,” their function being to protect and give strength to their owner.   Text in English and French.