Lecture | African Art and European Contact

Transcript

1. African  Art  and  European  Contact  
   Reading:  
   H.  Gene  Blocker,  “Is  Primi=ve  Art  
   Art?”  pp.  87-­‐97.    
    
   Range:  
   500  BCE-­‐1500  CE  
   Nok,  Ife,  Benin,  Sapi  
    
   Terms/Concepts:  
   lost-­‐wax  cas=ng,  primi=ve,  
   primi=vism,  othering,  savannah,  
   living  rock,  cruciform,  toron,  Oba,  
   ama,  manilla,  Olokun,  saltcellar  
    
   Monument  List:  
     TerracoQa  Head,  Nok  Culture,  
   Lagos,  Nigeria,  c.  500  BCE-­‐200  
   BCE.  
     Crowned  Head  of  a  King  (Oni),  
   Ife,  Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  
   CE  
     Hip  Mask  Represen=ng  an  
   Iyoba  (“Queen  Mother”),  
   Benin,  Middle  Period,  c.  1550  
   CE  
     Master  of  the  Symbolic  
   Execu=on,  saltcellar,  Sapi-­‐
   Portuguese,  from  Sierra  
   Leone,  ca.  1490-­‐1540.  
   

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2. Erg  Chebbi  Sand  Dunes,  Sahara  Desert,  
   Morocco.  
   Makgadikgadi  Pans,  Dry  Savannah,  
   Botswana.  
   Congo  Basin,  Tropical  Forest,  Republic  of  
   Congo  
   

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3. c.  5000  BCE   Today  
   

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4. Nok  Culture:  500  BCE  –  200  CE  
   

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5. Nok  Culture:  500  BCE  –  200  CE  
   

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6. View  across  the  leb  bank  of  the  river  
   Kaduna,  near  Kagara,  central  Nigeria.  
   

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7. Jos  Plateau  during  the  rainy  season,  near  
   Nok,  Nigeria.  
   

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8. TerracoQa  Head,  Nok  
   Culture,  Lagos,  Nigeria,  c.  
   500  BCE-­‐200  BCE.  
   

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9. Women  using  open  clamp  oven,  village  of  Oka  outside  
   of  Ibadan,  Nigeria,  1991.  
   Air-­‐dried  pots  are  placed  in  a  pit  
   over  a  fire.  
   

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10. Pit  kiln  or  open  clamp  oven,  Central  Nigeria,  2006.  
    The  kiln  reaches  over  1300°  F  to  
    harden  the  clay.  
    

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11. TerracoQa  Head,  Nok  Culture,  
    Lagos,  Nigeria,  c.  500  BCE-­‐200  
    BCE.  
    

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12. TerracoQa  Head,  Nok  Culture,  
    Lagos,  Nigeria,  c.  500  BCE-­‐200  BCE.  
    

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13. TerracoQa  Heads,  Nok  Culture,  Lagos,  Nigeria,  c.  500  
    BCE-­‐200  BCE.  
    

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14. Seated  Dignitary,  Nok  Culture,  
    Africa,  Nok  Plateau,  Nigeria,  c.  
    250  B.C.  
    

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15. Seated  Dignitary,  Nok  Culture,  
    Africa,  Nok  Plateau,  Nigeria,  c.  
    250  B.C.  
    

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16. Ife  
    

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17. Ife  
    

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18. Forests  and  Rivers,  Osun  Grove,  Near  Ife,  Southern  
    Nigeria.  
    

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19. Its  residents  oben  referred  to  Ife  as  the  
    “Navel  of  the  World.”  
    Figure  of  the  Oni,  Ita  
    Yemoo,  Ife,  late  13th-­‐15th  
    century.  
    

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20. Pavement  Era  Begins  in  1000  CE  
    

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21. Symbol  of  the  Inner  Head  
    (ibori),  western  Yoruba,  c.  
    19th-­‐20th  century.  
    Cache  of  Bronze  Heads  found  under  the  floor  of  the  
    Wunmonije  Compound,  near  the  palace  of  the  Oni,  1938.  
    

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22. So-­‐called  “Ori  Olokun,”  likely  a  crowned  
    head  of  a  King  (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  early  
    20th  century  copy  of  14th-­‐15th  Century  
    original.  
    

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23. Archaeologist  and  anthropologist  Leo  
    Frobenius,  c.1910.    
    So-­‐called  “Ori  Olokun,”  likely  a  crowned  head  
    of  a  King  (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  early  20th  century  
    copy  of  14th-­‐15th  Century  original.  
     “It  [Ori  Olokun]  is  en=rely  devoid  of  Negro  
    characteris=cs  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  
    cannot  have  been  made  of  local  cas=ng…[I]  
    discovered  indisputable  proofs  of  the  existence  
    of  Plato’s  legendary  Con=nent  of  Atlan=s”  
    

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24. Crowned  Head  of  a  King  
    (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  
    Century  CE  
    “May  Obatala  fashion  for  
    us  a  good  work  of  art.”  
    

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25. Crowned  Head  of  a  King  
    (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  
    Century  CE  
    Yoruba  Aesthe=cs:  
    •  Ifarahon  (visibility)  
    •  Didon  (luminosity)  
    •  Gigun  (straight)    
    •  Odo  (“in  the  prime  of  life”)  
    •  Tut  (coolness)    
    •  Didogba  (symmetry)  
    •  Ogbogba  (balance)  
    •  Ohun  Eso  (ornamenta=on)  
    •  Jihora  (likeness)  
    

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26. TerracoQa  Head,  Ife,  
    Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  
    CE  
    Embodiment  in  Portraiture  
    •  Ashe:  Life  Force  
    •  Iwa:  Crea=vity  
    •  Ara:  Evoca=ve  Power  
    

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27. TerracoQa  Head,  Ife,  
    Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  
    CE  
    Scarifica=on  is  s=ll  prac=ced  in  western  Africa  
    today.  
    

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28. Bronze  Mask  Head,  Ife,  
    Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  CE  
    Masquerader  wearing  beaded  veil  at  a  
    ceremony  honoring  his  ancestors,  Ijebu,  
    Nigeria,  1986.  
    

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29. Early  Trade  Routes  
    

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30. African  Slave  Trade  
    

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31. Slave  Trade  Map  
    

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32. Benin:  c.  1440-­‐1897  
    Benin  City  
    

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33. Benin  City  
    Ife  sent  Benin  a  new  dynas=c  king  
    in  1170.    
    

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34. Memorial  Head  of  an  Oba,  Benin,  
    Early  Period,  16th  Century  CE  
    Crowned  Head  of  a  King  (Oni),  Ife,  
    Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  CE  
    

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36. Walls  of  Benin  City  before  1897  raid.  
    

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37. Memorial  Head  of  an  
    Oba,  Benin,  Early  
    Period,  16th  Century  CE  
    

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38. Altar  dedicated  to  Oba  Ovonramwen,  Benin  peoples,  
    Benin  City,  Nigeria,  c.  1914.    
    

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39. Head  of  King  (Oba),  Benin,  Nigeria,  Edo,  17th  century.  
    

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40. Head  of  King  (Oba),  Benin,  
    Nigeria,  Edo,  17th  century.  
    Oba  Akenzua  II  in  beaded  
    regalia,  1958.  
    

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41. Head  of  King  (Oba),  Benin,  
    Nigeria,  Edo,  17th  century.  
    High-­‐ranking  Benin  chiefs  in  
    the  “pangolin”  costume,  1997.  
    

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42. Corselet,  cap,  and  flywhisk,  Coral  and  agate  
    beads,  18th-­‐19th  century.  
    

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43. High-­‐ranking  Benin  chiefs  in  the  
    “pangolin”  costume,  1997.  
    Plaque  (ama)  with  the  Royal  Triad,  Benin,  16th-­‐17th  century.  
    

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44. Procession  of  the  Oba,  Benin  City,  from  Descrip8on  of  Africa,  
    published  in  Amsterdam  in  1668.    
    

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45. Benin  City,  from  Descrip8on  of  Africa,  published  in  
    Amsterdam  in  1668.    
    

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46. Hip  Mask  Represen=ng  an  Iyoba  
    (“Queen  Mother”),  Benin,  
    Middle  Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    Woman  with  facial  scarifica=on,  Benin,  2010  
    

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47. Hip  Mask  Represen=ng  
    an  Iyoba  (“Queen  
    Mother”),  Benin,  Middle  
    Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    

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48. Alterna=ng  PaQern  of  Olokun  and  Portuguese  Merchants,  Hip  
    Mask  Represen=ng  an  Iyoba  (“Queen  Mother”),  Benin,  
    Middle  Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    Olokun  
    Olokun  
    Merchant  
    

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49. Olokun,  Hip  Mask  Represen=ng  an  
    Iyoba  (“Queen  Mother”),  Benin,  
    Middle  Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    Bronze  Statue  of  Olokun,    Ebo-­‐
    Olokun,  Nigeria,  c.  12th-­‐15th  
    centuries.  
    

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50. Members  of  the  Bri=sh  Puni=ve  Raid,  Benin  Palace,  
    1897.  
    Members  of  the  Bri=sh  Puni=ve  Raid  with  spoils,  
    Benin  Palace,  1897.  
    

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51. Coloniza=on  Map  
    “He  became  a  Chris=an  and  at  
    school  was  my  fellow  scholar  in  
    learning  to  read  and  write.    
    When  he  leb  he  could  write  very  
    well,  because  the  Sapes  have  a  
    talent  and  skill  at  everything  
    they  learn.”  (Andre  Donelha  on  
    Beca  Bore,  a  Sapi  royal,  in  
    1570s).    
    

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52. Master  of  the  Symbolic  Execu=on,  saltcellar,  Sapi-­‐Portuguese,  
    from  Sierra  Leone,  ca.  1490-­‐1540.  
    

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53. Benvenuto  Cellini,  Salt  Cellar  for  Francis  I,  
    1540-­‐1543.  
    

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54. Pieter  Claesz,  S8ll  Life  
    with  Wine,  1643.  
    Detail:  Saltcellar  
    

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55. Master  of  the  Symbolic  Execu=on,  saltcellar,  Sapi-­‐Portuguese,  
    from  Sierra  Leone,  ca.  1490-­‐1540.  
    

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56. Master  of  the  Symbolic  Execu=on,  saltcellar,  Sapi-­‐Portuguese,  
    from  Sierra  Leone,  ca.  1490-­‐1540.  
    “This  is  how  they  mete  out  
    jus=ce…they  cut  off  the  heads  
    and  throw  the  bodies  to  the  wild  
    animals.”  (Alvarez  de  Almada,  
    17th  century).    
    

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57. Master  of  the  Symbolic  Execu=on,  saltcellar,  Sapi-­‐Portuguese,  
    from  Sierra  Leone,  ca.  1490-­‐1540.  
    Mende  (Mande)  Stool,  Sierra  Leone.  
    

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58. The  Danish  naturalist  Ole  Worm's  cabinet  of  curiosi=es,  This  
    is  the  fron=spiece  to  Worm's  1655  Museum  Wormianium.  
    

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