Studied by 3 peopleConical Tower and Circular Wall of Great Zimbabwe
Culture: Shona
Date: 1000-1400 CE
Medium: Coursed granite blocks
Location: Southeastern Zimbabwe
Artist: Shona Peoples
Form: Great enclosure with multiple areas, brick huts, smooth walls - no mortar was used,
Function: Religious center, wall to keep in cattle, palatial complex
Content: Great wall and large tower (tower is religious center), chevron pattern near top
Context: In between gold rich plateau and Indian Ocean ports
Comparison- Pantheon: Both built on hills.
Extra: Built on a hill, giving tactical advantage.
The Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali
Culture: Mali
Date: 1000 CE
Medium: Adobe mud brick
Location: Djenne, Mali
Artist: Mali Peoples
Form: Largest mud brick building in the world,
Function: Moque for people to pray in (separate hall for women). Place to worship ad symbol of cultural identity.
Content: The things sticking out of the wall act as a type of scalffholding
Context: Influenced by Islam and the local Sudano-Sahelian style, also an annual festival was created out of necessity of replastering the mud brick once a year, has been rebuilt multiple times
Extra: Sudanese style architecture characterized by the adobe material and wooden beams sticking out of it. Built on a raised platform. Decorative and utilitarian.
Wall Plaque of Oba's Palace
Culture: Benin
Date: 16th-17th century
Medium: Cast brass and bronze
Location: Benin City, Edo, Nigeria (South/Mid Western Nigeria)
Artist: Edo People
Form: Hierarchy of scale, relief sculpture
Function: To display the king's power and decorative.
Content: King Oba standing in the middle with attendants kneeling beside him with two tiny Portuguese traders in the back, Portuguese are non human looking
Context: It is the people's obligation to assist the king with whatever he needs, whenever he needs it
Extra: Created using the lost wax cast technique. Uses hierarchy of scale. Typically depicts scenes of royal life.
Sika dwa kofi (The Golden Stool)
Culture: Ashanti
Date: 1700 CE
Medium: Wood covered with gold and cast-gold attachments
Location: Southern Central Ghana
Artist: Ashanti people
Form: Size of a piano bench, but shorter; bells on the side are designed to warn the king of approaching danger
Function: Symbolically represents the spirit of the Ashanti nation, represents royal family and succession
Content: Shaped like a stool
Context: The Ashanti Uprising/The Golden Stool War occurred in 1900 because a British governor demanded possession of the stool, the stool is so valuable that the location of it is only known by the king, queen, and highly trusted advisors (replicas are usually used in ceremonies)
Extra: Believed to embody the spirit of the Ashanti nation. Legitimizes rule like a physical Mandate of Heaven.
Ndop (portrait figure) of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul
Culture: Kuba
Date: 1700 CE
Medium: Wood
Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Artist: Kuba peoples
Form: Idealized characteristics; head is 1/3 size of body = value of intelligence; various ornaments and accessories
Function: To hold the spirit of the king; idol = object that links to the ruler, to commemorate the king, and legitimizes kings rule.
Content: Ndop - portrait figure that usually portrays leaders, expressionless and calm, rounded counters, defined lips and collarbones,
Context: Belief that the Ndop contains the spirit of the king and absorbs the king's life force when he dies; peaceful, spiritual figure that is considered a concrete piece of their history
Power Figure (Nkisi n'tondi)
Culture: Kongo
Date: Late 1800s CE
Medium: Wood and metal
Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Artist: Kongo peoples
Form: Metal and ceramic insertions; painted eyes; hollow stomach
Function: Avenger/guardian spirit objects, helping, healing, protecting, justice, conflict resolution, embodied spiritual forces/ ancestral spirits, used in rituals
Content: Exaggerated form of human
Context: Represents their spiritually centered culture; there are multiple figures that have different purposes
Comparison- Caribbean Voodoo Dolls: More different than similar. Both are used for healing and protecting. Votive Figures.
Extra: Believed to be an intermediary between the human world and the spiritual world.
Portrait mask (Mblo)
Culture: Baule (Ivory Coast)
Date: Early 1900s
Medium: Wood and pigment
Location: Cote d'Ivoire
Artist: Baule peoples
Form: beads and nails added for decor and texture,
Function: Used in ceremonial dances to celebrate specific members of the community or ancestors, reinforce social cohesion and provide the community with a cultural identity.
Content: Idealized figure - broad forehead, long nose, pronounced eye sockets, these features depict intellect and beauty under the Baule standards; introspective (inward look), peaceful; male and female masks
Context: Real people depicted in masks - rare in African art
Bundu Mask
Culture: Mende
Date: 1900s CE
Medium: Wood, cloth, and fiber
Location: West African forests of Sierra Leone and Liberia
Artist: Sande Women’s Initiation Society
Form: sleek and luminous to show the inner light of life; scarifications - makings under the eyes that show the girl's identity
Function: Worn on top of head and used in final dance in initiation of womanhood. Maintain social order and cohesion.
Content: Small mouth and ears to limit the exposure to gossip; rings of fat represent fertility; eyes are slit to conceal the identity and to prevent the girls from looking at men
Context: Women are important in this society, these customs declined in the 1970s because of the Islamic influence
Extra: Represents Sowei, a mythical figure, feminine protector and serves to empower young girls. Symbol of feminine beauty, wisdom and cultural identity
Reliquary figure (Byeri)
Culture: Fang
Date: 1900s
Medium: Wood
Location: Southern Cameroon
Artist: Fang peoples
Form: Balance of opposite characteristics - high value to the Fang peoples
Function: Guardian of reliquary boxes (boxes that store ancestor's bones). Used in rituals and ceremonies
Content: Abstract human body - elongated too, cylindrical arms and legs, big head; enlarged bellybutton indicates vitality and importance of the mother
Context: Ancestor veneration is important; nomadic people
Comparison- Terracotta Warriors: Both originally functions as guardians and both have a new contemporary function of museum attractions.
Extra: Used by the living to ask ancestors, important people, or spirits questions.
Ikenga (shrine figure)
Culture: Igbo
Date: 1900s CE
Medium: wood
Location: Nigeria
Artist: Igbo peoples
Form: small sculpture of wood representing the two-faced Ikenga God
Function: shows family's achievements and accomplishments; position of hierarchy; brought success and wealth
Content: horned somewhat squatting figure; sword represents success in battles
Context: annual celebrations celebrate its creation; and show family's achievements; usually placed in their houses
Extra: Masculine. Celebrates individual’s achievements, earned. Igbo people didn’t develop a strong central government or strong social hierarchy. Honors the power and skill of a man’s right hand as seen by the weapon in the statue’s right hand. Vary in size.
Lukasa memory board
Culture: Luba
Date: 19th-20th century
Medium: wood, beads, metal, shells
Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Mbudye Society
Artist: Luba peoples
Form: a handheld object with various beads and designs in certain locations to be interpreted as history; has the head of Lolo Inang'ombe on the top
Function: made to preserve the history of the Luba peoples; unites the community under the similar history
Content: Various lines, beads, and other decorations represent a course of events in history; i.e. migration patters were sometimes shown, etc.; the head of Lolo Inang-ombe was at the top of the rectangular object
Context: Lolo Inang-ombe founded the highest class of the Luba people (the Mbudye Society), and she represented wisdom and royalty; only the Bana Balute were trained to read them, and the memory boards were up to their individual interpretation.
Comparison- Benin Plaques: both tell history
Extra: Numonic device to tell history.
Female Pwo Mask
Culture: Chokwe
Date: early 1900s CE
Medium: wood, fiber, pigment, metal
Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa
Artist: Chokwe peoples
Form: female ancestral mask, made of available resources, very stylized with what the Chokwe people saw as "beauty"
Function: used in an initiation dance which was performed to chiefs and kings, newly married men and women, and girls who had reached adulthood; the mask is of a female ancestor because the Chokwe people are matrilineal. Protector, educational device, and entertainment device.
Content: The mask is of a female face; many tattoos are on the face, each representing a different emotion or feature of women
Context: The masks honor the female ancestors of the tribe and are used to initiate people into a new journey in their life; Only men wore the masks in the dances, therefor imitating women; pwo means young woman and can also refer to the initiation ceremony itself.
Extra: Believed to embody the spirit of female ancestors. Represents femininity. Symbol of feminism, cultural identity and beauty within the Chokwe society.
Aka Elephant Mask
Culture: Bamileke
Date: 1900s CE
Medium: wood, woven raffia, cloth, beads, shells
Location: Cameron, western grass fields region
Artist: Bamileke people
Form: mask in the shape of an elephant with many colors (blues, yellows, whites, reds) and beads as decorations, each pattern and color representing something;
Function: Used in masquerade ceremonies and symbolized the royal court or respected officials
Content: the mask had two large circular "ears" to either side and a long piece of cloth covered in beads that ran down the body, representing an elephant's "trunk"; holes were cut into the mask for the person's eyes and mouth; mask is covered in beads and decorations in different colors
Context: the elephant represented political power to the Bamileke people; therefore these dances were worthy of the royal court
Extra: Symbolizes wealth and royal power. People who wear the mask are called Kuosi and they are elite families, royalty, and important military people.
Veranda Post of Enthroned King and senior wife (Opo Ogoga)
Culture: Yoruba
Date: 1910-1914
Medium: wood and pigment
Location: Ekiti region, Nigeria
Artist: Olowe of Ise (Yoruba peoples)
Form: King is throned infront of a standing wife; sculpture; the wife is crowning the king
Function: was originally in the Palace of Ikere, and greeted visitors into the palace
Content: Women stands behind the man and is towering over him, which shows the importance of women; King's crown has a bird on it, which represents the king's divinity
Context: created to show the power of the king and queen?; Veranda means porch; no longer at the Palace of Ikere (currently in the Chicago Art Institute)
Extra: 1 of 4 statues created for the palace courtyard. Shows the importance of senior women and functions as a reminder that a king can’t rule without the senior woman/ wife. The senior wife signifies great beauty and high social status. Conveys the balance between a king and his wife. The kings crown was the most important symbol of his authority. The bird perched on his crown symbolizes the presence of older women.
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