African Art Study Guide 1

Circa

meaning “around” when referencing years or time

BCE/CE

before common era, common era

Petroglyph

an image/carving made on the surface of rock

Relief Sculpture (Low Relief, High Relief)

a piece that has a protrusion out of the flat background, can be a high or low protrusion

Polychrome

multiple-colored object/piece

Stylized

to exaggerate or simplify the natural features of a piece

Terra-Cotta

baked clay or ceramic

Sculpture in the Round/Freestanding Sculpture

pieces that are carved to stand alone; three dimensional

Scarification

permanent artificial markings made on the body in a pattern, typically to indicate status or beauty

Lost-Wax Casting

process of making an object; a clay mold surrounds a wax model, wax melts away and the mold is filled with molten metal

Monolith

a single large block of stone

Rock-cut

carved from solid stone where it naturally occurs

Slip

a thinner liquid spread over objects’ surfaces as a protective measure

Oni

“king” in the Ile-Ife language

Benin

ancient african kingdom

Ivory

a protruding bone farmed from certain animals, like elephants and rhinos, used to develop highly sought-after products

Embroidery

decorative stitching usually made with colored thread on woven textile

Fetish

a European term for a human-made substitute for God; used inaccurately to refer to objects related to African religious practices or beliefs

Fiber art

use of natural or synthetic fibers to create art objects

Pendant

an object that is meant to hang down

Amulet

an object specifically used to ward off spirits, used for protection

Register

a horizontal section of a work, usually a clearly defined band or line

Asante

An ethnic group native to Ghana

Scramble for Africa

separating the African continent into territories for European claim

Minkisi (nkisi singular)

any object invested with sacred energy, used for spiritual protection

Reliquary

objects associated with holy people or ancestors

Masquerades/masqueraders

the masks, choreography, music, costumes, lyrics, and performances involving transformations of humans

Large Wild Fauna Style Elephant Relief, Messak Settafet, Libya, c. 7,500 – 5,000 BCE ,stone tools on rock surface

- Running Horned Woman, 6,500-6,000 BCE, pigment on rock, Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria, pigment on rock

- Lydenburg head, Lydenburg, Mpumalanga region, South Africa, 500 – 800 CE, Fired clay

- Head Broken from a figure, Jemaa, Nigera, Nok Style, 700 – 400 BCE, Fired Clay

- Head of a flywhisk, or top to a staff, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria, c. 800-900 CE, copper alloy

- Royal tomb monument, Aksum, Ethiopia, Kingdom of Aksum, 200-400, Solid Stone, 69ft. high

- Abuna Yemata Guh, Cliff Church, Tigray, Ethiopia, c. 500 – 1500

- Bete Giyorgis (Church of St. George), Lalibala, Ethiopia, c. 1200

- Royal Emblem in the form of a fish eagle, Ancestral Shona, Zimbabwe, 1250-1400,

- Head from Wunmonije Compound, Ife, Nigeria, Ancestral Yoruba, 1250-1350, Copper

Salt cellar, Sapi-Portuguese, Sierra Leone, c. 1470-1550, ivory, height 13 ¼”

- Crown or cap (mpu) for a man of high rank, kingdom of Kongo, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, or Cabinda, before 1674, woven and
embroidered fiber from the raffia palm, diameter 5 7/8”

- Divination tray (opon ifa), Yoruba, before 1659, wood, height 21 ½”

- Pendant portraying Queen Idia, the Iyoba, kingdom of Benin, sixteenth century, ivory,iron, copper (?), height 9 3/8”

- Plaque depicting a palace shrine, kingdom of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, c. 1520-1640,copper alloy, height 21 ½”

- Tusk for an ancestral altar, kingdom of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, c. 1820, ivory,

- Sika Dwa Kofi (Golden Throne), kingdom of Asante, Kumase, Ghana, 1700, gold

- Sculptor and religious specialists of the Yombe (Kongo), nkisi nkonde, before 1878. Wood, metal and organic material, 42” high

- Sculptor of the Mindumu (Kota), reliquary guardian, before 1880. Wood, brass, copper,

- Dancers performing within Njoya’s palace, kingdom of Bamun, masks and architecture in Cameroon Grasslands style, photograph c. 1912, Fumban, Cameroon

- Olowe of Ise, doors and lintel sculpted for the Ogoga of Ikere, Yoruba style, c. 1900, wood, pigment, 7’ 6 5/8” high