Upto 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s material cultural legacy is kept in Western museums and private collections outside of the continent.

In the absence of written sources, this material constitutes the principal historical source of many societies.

This essay outlines the significance of figurative art as a complement to textual and archaeological research on African history, using the example of the kingdoms of medieval Ife and the Sapi, 19th-century Loango, as well as Ancient Kush.