1. AFRICA BEFORE 1800
GARDner chapter 15-1 pp

2. AFRICAN ART BEFORE 1800 - BACKGROUND
Core beliefs and practices
Africans believe that ancestors never die and can be addressed
Sense of family and respect for elders
Worshipping nature deities
Elevating rulers to sacred status
Many African sculptures are representations of ancestors -> carved to venerate their spirits
Fertility of the individual and the land is highly regarded
Great ancient civilizations in Nubia, Egypt, and Carthage dominated North Africa
African kingdoms came and went with regularity

3. PREHISTORY – ROCK ART
Thousands of rock engravings and paintings found at hundreds of site across the African continent
Painted animals from the Apollo 11 Cave in southwestern Africa -> perhaps 25,000 years old
Greatest concentrations of rock art
Sahara Desert to the north
The Horn of Africa in the east
Kalahari Desert to the south
Caves and rock outcroppings in the southern Africa
Depictions of animals and humans in many different positions and activities

4. TASSILI N’AJER
Running horned woman, rock painting from Tassilin’Ajjer, Algeria, BCE
One of the finest and earliest examples of rock art -> thousands of years older than the first African sculptures
Depicts a running woman with body paint, raffia skirt, and horned headgear
Ceremonial attire -> apparently in a ritual context

5. ART AND LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA
Relationships between leaders and art forms -> strong, complex, and universal in Africa
Leaders have the power and wealth to command artists and material
Adornment
Home furnishing
Projection of power
Dispensing of art
Exclusive prerogative of use
Durable and costly materials
Draw attention to superior status
Handheld objects extend reach and magnify gestures
Regalia and implements
Arts that leaders control create pageantry, mystery, and spectacle

8. (167-1) Conical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe, CONICAL TOWER, southeastern Zimbabwe, Shona peoples, c C.E., coursed granite blocks
Zimbabwe derives from a Shona term meaning “venerated houses” or “houses of stone”
Prosperous trading center and royal complex
Stone enclosure, probably a royal residence
Conical tower modeled on traditional shapes of grain silos -> control over food symbolized wealth, power, and royal largesse

9. The most famous southern African site -> The Great Zimbabwe empire had a wide trade network -> gold, ivory, skins exchanged for porcelain, beads, and manufactured goods

10. GREAT ZIMBABWE – CIRCULAR WALL
(167-2) Conical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe, CIRCULAR WALL, southeastern Zimbabwe, Shona peoples, c C.E., coursed granite blocks
Walls – 800 feet long, 32 feet tall, 17 feet thick at base
Walls slope inward toward the top
Internal and external passageways are tightly bounded, narrow, and long
Watch the Khan Academy video

11. 11th to 18th CENTURIES – DEJENNE TERRACOTTAS
Archer, from Djenne, Mali, 13th to 15th century, terracotta
Djenne terracottas present a striking contrast from the Ile-Ife sculpture from Nigeria
This archer is thin with tubular limbs and an elongated head with a prominent chin, bulging eyes, and large nose
Read handout on Great Mosque, Djenne

12. (168-1)Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali, founded 1200 C. E
(168-1)Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali, founded 1200 C.E.; rebuilt C.E., adobe
Located in present day Mali, on the inland floodplain of the Niger River
Largest mud-brick mosque in the world
First built in the 13th century and rebuilt in after a fire
Resembles a Middle Eastern mosque in plan (large courtyard next to a roofed prayer hall), but the construction materials – adobe and wood – are distinctly African
Three tall towers, one in the center is the mihrab
Crowning ornaments have ostrich eggs -> symbols of fertility and purity
GREAT MOSQUE, DJENNE

13. MONDAY MARKET AT THE GREAT MOSQUE OF DJENNE
(168-2)Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali, founded 1200 C.E.; rebuilt C.E., adobe
Made of adobe = a baked mixture of clay and straw
Torons = wooden beams projecting from walls
Wooden beams act as permanent ladders for the maintenance of the building -> occurs in an annual festival
Vertical fluting drains water off the surfaces quickly

14. AFRICA BEFORE 1800
GARDNER 15-2 pp

15. BENIN – QUEEN MOTHER IVORY
This ivory head probably portrays Idia, mother of a Benin king Oba Esigie, who wore it on his waist
Above Idia’s head are alternating Portuguese heads and mudfish, symbols, respectively of trade and of Olokun, god of the sea

16. (169-1) Wall plaque, from Oba’s palace, Edo peoples, Benin (Nigeria), 16th century C.E., cast brass
900 brass plaques produced; between inches
Decorated walls of royal palace in Benin - > show aspects of court life
Oba (king) believed to be direct descendant of Oranmiyan, the legendary founder of the dynasty
Only the Oba was allowed to be shielded in the way depicted on the plaque
Hierarchical proportions: largest figure was the greatest
Symbols of high rank are emphasized; stepping on a fallen leader
Lost wax process; high relief sculpture

17. (169-2) Wall plaque, from Oba’s palace, CONTEXTUAL PHOTOGRAPH: OBA OF BENIN, Edo peoples, Benin (Nigeria), 16th century C.E., cast brass
Read handout on Wall plaque, from Oba’s palace

18. The Golden Stool is the royal and divine throne of the Ashanti people
The Golden Stool is the royal and divine throne of the Ashanti people. According to legend, Okomfo Anokye, High Priest and one of the two chief founders of the Asante Confederacy, caused the stool to descend from the sky and land on the lap of the first Asante king, Osei Tutu. Such seats were traditionally symbolic of a chieftain's leadership, but the Golden Stool is believed to house the spirit of the Asante nation— living, dead and yet to be born.

19. (170-1) Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool), Ashanti peoples (south central Ghana), c C.E., gold over wood and cast-gold attachments
Symbol of the Ashanti nation -> held in Ghana
Contains the soul of the nation
Never actually used as a stool; never allowed to touch the ground
New king is raised over the stool; he alone is allowed to touch it; carried to the the king on pillow
Taken out on special occasions
Entire surface inlaid with gold
Bells hang from the side to warn the king of danger
War of the Golden Stool, March-Sept > the British Governor of the Gold Coast demanded to be allowed to sit on the stool -> causes rebellion -> British annex the Ashanti

20. Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool), CONTEXTUAL PHOTOGRAPH, Ashanti peoples (south central Ghana), c C.E., gold over wood and cast-gold attachments