Chapter 19: Africa Before 1800

Preview: Africa is a vast continent that has given rise to a diverse array of cultures and cultural productions. Among the earliest art in existence is the prehistoric rock art discovered in the Apollo 11 Cave in southwestern Africa (see Chapter 1), though most of the continent’s rock art dates from ca. 6000 BCE. Early African cultures thriving ca. 1000 BCE to 1000 CE produced figural sculpture in the round and used the lost-wax method to make bronze works. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Ile-Ife sculptors of present-day Nigeria made naturalistic images of their kings with disproportionately large heads to emphasize wisdom. From the 11th to 15th centuries, converts to Islam and Christianity built religious shrines that reflect external influence, while the Great Zimbabwe Empire in southern Africa traded actively with Mesopotamia and China. In the 16th century, sculptors of the Benin kingdom in the Lower Niger region excelled in producing carved ivory and cast bronze objects in honor of the king and royal family. Exchange between Africans and Europeans increased from the 16th to the 18th centuries, resulting in objects that blend cultural traditions. Chapter 37 focuses on the art of Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Key Figures: Master of the Symbolic Execution

Key Cultural & Religious Terms: oba, oni, iy’oba, scarification

Key Art Terms: ikegobo, twisted perspective, composite view, monolith

Key Architectural Terms: adobe, qibla

Lecture Notes:

Introductory Notes:

AFRICAN ART

Prehistory and Early Cultures:Dates:

Rock Art:

  • Running woman, rock painting, from Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria, ca. 6000-4000 BCE
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:

Nok and Lydenburg:

  • Nok head, from Rafin Kura, Nigeria, ca. 500 BCE-200 CE
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:
  • Head, from Lydenburg, South Africa, ca. 500 CE
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:

Igbo Ukwu:

  • Roped water basin, Igbo Ukwu, 9th to 10th centuries CE
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:
  • Equestrian figure on fly-whisk hilt, from Igbo Ukwu, Nigeria, 9th to 10th centuries CE
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:

11th to 18th Centuries:

Ile-Ife:

  • King, from Ita Yemoo (Ife), Nigeria, 11th to 12th centuries
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:
  • Head of a king, Ile-Ife, 12th to 13th centuries
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:
  • Seated man, from Tada, Nigeria, 13th to 14th centuries
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:

Djenne and Lalibela:

  • Archer, from Djenne, Mali, 13th to 15th centuries
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:
  • Aerial view of the Great Mosque, Djenne, Mali, begun 13th century, rebuilt 1906-1907
  • Description:
  • Construction materials:
  • Beta Giorghis (Church of Saint George), Lalibela, Ethiopia, ca. 1220
  • Description:
  • Construction materials:

Great Zimbabwe:

  • Walls and tower, Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, 14th century
  • Description:
  • Construction materials:
  • Function & significance:
  • Monolith with bird and crocodile, from Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, 15th century
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:

Benin:

  • Waist pendant of a queen mother, from Benin, Nigeria, ca. 1520
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:
  • Head of a queen mother, Benin, ca. 1520-1550
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:
  • Altar to the Hand (ikegobo), from Benin, Nigeria, ca. 1735-1750
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:

Sapi:

  • Master of the Symbolic Execution, saltcellar, Sapi-Portuguese, from Sierra Leone, ca. 1490-1540
  • Medium/materials:
  • Size/scale:
  • Subject & stylistic features:
  • Function & significance:

Concluding notes:

Exercises for Study:

1. Describe the distinctly African and distinctly European elements in the Sapi-Portuguese saltcellar made by the Master of the Symbolic Execution (Fig. 19-14).

2. Compare and contrast the major characteristics of Benin and Nok art.

3. Compare and contrast the following pairs of artworks, using the points of comparison as a guide.

A. Great Mosque, Djenne, Mali (Fig. 19-9); Beta Giorghis, Lalibela, Ethiopia (Fig. 19-10):

  • Cultures/locations:
  • Construction materials:
  • Function & religious traditions:

B. Equestrian figure on fly-whisk hilt (Fig.19-5); Altar to the Hand (ikegobo) from Benin(Fig. 19-1)

  • Cultures/locations:
  • Sculptural technique & materials:
  • Subjects represented:
  • Stylistic features:
  • Function of objects: