1 Chapter 19 Africa Before 1800

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African Art - Overview Greater African peoples in general Decoration of the body to express identity and status Community participation in rich festivals including masquerades to celebrate the harvest the new year and commemorate the death of leaders Nomadic and semi nomadic people – Art of personal adornment – Rock engravings – Paintings depicting animals and rituals Farmers – Figural sculpture in terra-cotta wood and metal Displayed and shrines to legendary ancestors Displayed for nature deities held responsible for the health of crops and the well-being of the people Kings and their courts – Art that celebrates the wealth and power of the ruler 3

4 Figure 19-2 Running horned woman, rock painting, from Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria, ca. 6000–4000 BCE.

5 Figure 19-3 Nok head, from Rafin Kura, Nigeria, ca. 500 BCE–200 CE. Terracotta, 1’ 2 3/16” high. National Museum, Lagos.

6 Figure 19-4 Head, from Lydenburg, South Africa, ca. 500 ce. Terracotta, 121 5/16”high. South African Museum, Iziko Museums of Cape Town, Cape Town.

7 Figure 19-5 Equestrian figure on fly-whisk hilt, from Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria, 9th to 10th century. Copper-alloy bronze, figure 6 3/16” high. National Museum, Lagos.

11 th to 18 th Centuries Best evidence for Royal arts in Africa from this period Major houses of worship for the religions of Christianity and Islam constructed Ile-Ife considered by Africans to be the cradle of Yoruba civilization, where the gods Oduduwa and Obatala created the earth and its peoples. 8

9 Figure 19-6 King, from Ita Yemoo (Ife), Nigeria, 11th to 12th century. Zinc-brass, 1’61/2”high.Museum of Ife Antiquities, Ife. Observe the idealized naturalism Notice that disproportionately large head – Ife seat of wisdom

19-7 Seated man, from Tada, Nigeria, 13th to 14th century. Copper, 1’ 9 1/8” high. National Museum, Lagos. 10

Figure 19-8 Archer, from Djenne, Mali, 13 th to 15 th century. Terracotta, 2’ 3/8” high. National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C. 11

Figure 19-9 Aerial view of the Great Mosque, Djenne, Mali, Begun 13 th century, rebuilt

Figure Beta Giorghis (Church of Saint George), Lalibela, Ethiopia, 13 th century. 13

Figure Walls and tower, Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, 14 th century. 14

15 Figure Monolith with bird and crocodile, from Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, 15th century. Soapstone, bird image 1’21/2”high. Great Zimbabwe Site Museum, Great Zimbabwe.

16 Figure Waist pendant of a Queen Mother, from Benin, Nigeria, ca Ivory and iron, 9 3/8”high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972).

17 Figure 19-1 Altar to the Hand and Arm (ikegobo), from Benin, Nigeria, 17th to 18th century. Bronze, 1’ 512”high. British Museum, London.

18 Figure MASTER OF THE SYMBOLIC EXECUTION, saltcellar, Sapi-Portuguese, from Sierra Leone, 15th to 16th century. Ivory, 1’ 4 7/8” high. Museo Nazionale Preistorico e Etnografico Luigi Pigorini, Rome.