African Art Before the 1800

Chronology

Saharan Rock Art : 8000 BCE – 1 CE

Nok: 500 BCE – 200 BCE

Great Zimbabwe: 1100 CE – 1450 CE (height)

Ife: 800 CE – 1500 CE

Benin: 1300 CE -1897 CE

Islam spreads to Africa: 800 CE (beginning)

African Continent

● 54 nations

● One-fifth of the worlds land

● 3 great rivers the Niger the Congo and the Nile

Different art forms

Body decorations

Costumes

Masquerades

Scarification involves deliberately cutting the skin in decorative patterns that leave permanent scars. Scarification can be in the form of grooves cut down in the skin or welts that stick up above the skin in raised designs. Tribes living in present-day Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Zaire, among other places, practice scarification

Body painting is a colorful art used by various African cultures to celebrate, protect, and mourn. Traditionally, body paint was mixed from natural ingredients and smoothed on the skin with fingers, sticks, or grasses. Oil, clay, and chalk were the most common paint ingredients

Prehistory and early cultures

Most African art/ objects bear neither labels nor signatures, and consequently it is nearly impossible to date them precisely or to identify their makers(this is also true for some ancient European arts such as the painted caves in France)

But in Africa the absence of documentation information persisted until quite recently among most of the continents and cultures.

There are some large gaps when we talk about the history of African art.

Art historians are still slowly writing the history on African art, and re-examining what already exists about the continent.

Primitivism and Colonialism

Saharan Rock art 1.Large Wild Fauna/Early Hunter/Bubalus Period Style2.Round Head/Archaic Period Style3.Pastoral Period Style4.Horse Period Style5.Camel Period Style

Running woman, rock painting, Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria, 6000-4000 BCE

7000 year old painting from Tassili N'ajjer in southeastern Algeria in the central Sahara is on of the earliest and finest surviving examples of rock art. During the Neolithic age, the Sahara had ample water rich soil foliage and large populations of humans and animals. (this contrast today)

What do we see? A women seems to be running,or dancing either way she is animated. The dotted marks on her shoulder and legs indicate body painting perhaps.

>> her face remains featureless>>raffia skirt and decoration on her arms. >>hornes. Ceremonial attire>> twisted perspective>>dancing ceremony of some kind.

Nok and Lydenburg

Nok head, From Rafin kura, Nigeria. 500-200 Ce terracotta

>tell me what

terra cotta is

This head is a Fragment of what was originally full body

Nok people, sculpted standing, seated, kneeling figures

Holes in face to be Fired in a kiln

Nok heads

Head of Lydenburg, South Africa, ca 500 CE. Terracotta. 1’ 2” high

Equestrian figure on fly-whisk hilt, From Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria 9th to 10th Centuries, copper/ bronze, figure 6”

Leaders in Africa:Those who hold the power and wealth e.g Political , spiritual, social leards, kings, and chiefs

Best artisans and best materials such as Ivory, beads and copper.

Objects: chairs, stools, clothing, weapendry, staffs, spears, knifes, fly whisks, spoons, seapters, pipes, fans and umbrellas.

Symbols of statues

Ife

Ruler Portraits Just after the turn of the 19th century, the German anthropologist Leo Frobenius (1873-1938) found the sculpture of ancient Ife king in the lower Niger River region. Because of the refinement and naturalism he saw in the sculptures, he could not believe that they were the works of local artist. As did most Europeans at the time, having the perceived notion of “primitive” having been taught to them.

--Consequently, he attributed the Ife sculptures to the ancient Greeks, later these works were traced back to their origins and it was discovered the Nigerian sculptors were indeed the ones who created the figures.

King, from Ita Yemoo Nigeria, 11th to 12th century. , Zinc Brass 1’ 6”

>>>>Lost Wax process

Royal Portraits

Many heads portray past onis (also

represented are queens and high-ranking

members of society). Scholars believe these

heads might have been used in a number of

ways:

1. attached to a temporary body to produce a

funerary figure

2. placed on altars in a form of ancestor

worship

3. used to display crowns during rituals₁

Ife Traditions Ife culture still exists today.

According to Yoruba religion, Olodumare, the Supreme God, ordered Obatala to create the earth, but on his way he found palm wine which he drank and became intoxicated. Therefore, the younger brother of the latter, Oduduwa, took the three items of creation from him, climbed down from the heavens on a chain and threw a handful of earth on the primordial ocean, then put a cockerel on it so that it would scatter the earth, thus creating the land on which Ile Ife would be built

Kings and Gods were often depicted with large heads because the artists believed that the Ase was held in the head, the Ase being the inner power and energy of a person. Both historic figures of Ife and the offices associated with them are represented.

These Important figures often had scarifications on their faces, these scars were a symbol of power and beauty.

Seated man, from Tada, Nigeria, 13th to 14th centuries, copper. 1’9”

Djenne

Djenne(modern day Mali) TerracottasHundreds of sensitivity modeled terracotta sculptures, most dating between 1100 and 1500, have been found at nemours sites in the Djene region. (modern day Mali)

>>Arrival of islam, shunned figural art in religious context >>>

The vast majority of the known Djene sculptures came from illegal excavations, and all contextual information on them has been lost.

The human figure was sculpted in many position, such as seated, reclining, kneeling, standing and on horseback.Some of the figures were of women and men depicted together. some are warriors others wear elaborate jewelry.

<<<<What do we see here?

Archer from Djenne. Mali 13th to 15th Centuries, terracotta

Djenne warrior with arrows on his back and knives strapped to his left arm. The proportion of the figure is different from what we have seen so far. >>>>>>>>>>● thin and tall● tubular limbs● elongated head ● prominent chin● bulging eyes● large nose

>>>>>Tranziharen tarde>Lots of trade during this time. >>islam is introduced to Africa

Benin

Waist pendant of queen Mother Idia, from Benin, Nigeria ca. 1520 Ivory and iron.

King on Horseback with attendants from Benin, Nigeria, 1550-1680. Brass

Who is the Largest figure?

Why do you think he is more important?

What is he wearing?

Why do you think that the figures heads are enlarged?

>>Oba= king

The drummer

King holding Leopards/ representing his power.

Benin Bronze Most heads portray past obas.

Although different from the Ife

heads in style, they share

construction technique and

materials. Review that

technique and those materials

below:

Ndop of the Kuba King Shyaam aMbul a Ngoong, from Democratic Republic of Congo ca. 1760-1780 wood. 1’9”

Kuba: Carved wood royal portrait figures (ndop) from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

<<Shyaam Ambul Angoong: founder of the kuba Bushoong royal line (Shyaam the great) He lived around 1625The sculpture is meant to depict him as idealized, and in the prime of his life.

● Sitting cross legged● Sword in one hand● Traditional Bushoong visor

crownMultiple sculptures were kept in women chambers, when women were giving birth, they would keep the statue near them for protection, sometimes rubbing it with oils.

The Sapi

Master of the Symbolic execution, saltcellar Sapi Portuguese from Sierra Leone, ca 1490-1540 17 inches High Ivory

Portuguese commission from the Sapi: Spoons, Forks, Saltcellars, boxes, hunting horns, and decorated Knife handles.

These items graced the table of the European lite. One of the more prized possessions was the Saltcellar.

Saltcellars were carved from Ivory (elephant tusk).

This particular saltcellar depicts an execution scene.

We see a kneeling figure with a shield in the other hand he holds an ax. Next to him appears to be another seated figure about to lose his head. In Front of them on the ground we see six already severed heads.

Moving down the lines midway separate the lid from the rest of the vessel. Moving down again, we see women figures and male figures grasping on to long poles.

West African art and North African art

Two beautiful/ important women

Islamic Africa

Spread of Islam to Africa

Active trade routes

● Early 7th century.

● New religion emerges Muhammad is born in Arabia During his life time and after his death Islam spread pretty rapidly through prussia and the Byzantine empire and beyond.

● Islam integrated with cultures through trade, missionaries and pilgrimage routes from Mecca.

● Mosques were being built

Modern day Mali- World's largest mud brick Mosques.

Islamic terms:

>minaret: a tall slender tower, typically part of a mosque, with a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer.

>qibla:the direction of the Kaaba (the sacred building at Mecca), to which Muslims turn at prayer.

>minbar: a short flight of steps used as a platform by a preacher in a mosque.

>mihrab:a niche in the wall of a mosque, at the point nearest to Mecca, toward which the congregation faces to pray.

>madrasa:a college for Islamic instruction.

Great Mosque, Djenne, Mali, constructed in the 13th century, razed in 1830 and rebuilt in 1906-07(made of Mud/earth)