Required Images

172. Power figure (Nkisi N’Kondi). Kongo peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. kate 19th century C.E. Wood and metal.

• Nkisi refers to spiritual substances, or medicines used in the Kongo religious practices.

  • N’Kondi means hunter or pursuer.

• The figure’s had a large role in pursuing and punishing wrongdoers, dispelling evil, and resolving diputes.

  • Those who enlisted its help would lick and drive pegs, nails and blades into the figure; it served as a symbol of justice in the Kongo community.

• There was medicine stored in its belly, covered and shielded by glass.

• It is, in a way, a contained of sacred substances which can be activated by supernatural forces and summoned into the real world.

• It could be used to resolve verbal disputes or lawsuits and act as a guardian against evil.

• Considered fetish items (believed to posses magical powers); therefore, Europeans destroyed many of them while other collected them in fascination. It was a precursor to the Western notion of the voodoo doll.

• The glass or a reflective surface of the belly represents the world beyond, inhabited by spirits. The person adding the nails and pegs makes him a participant in the sculptural characteristics of the Nkisi.

  • A carved, single block of wood becomes an intimidating figure that enters the viewers' space with his lean forward.

• Wide-open eyes, bent knees, and hands-onhips not only make him alert as to what is before him but ready to respond if necessary.

• The nganga (healer) mixes herbs, bones from animals, minerals, and ancestor relics into a mystically transformed matter in the bilango.

  • The hollow center of considered the figure's spiritual core (his belly) is then filled with the bilango and sealed with a piece of glass, then sealed with a resin that attracts the spiritual force that gives the Nkisi its power.

• Each of the metal pieces introduced in to the nkisi provides a historical record of agreements, disputes, and medical conditions experienced by the members of the Kongo community that is its custodian.

173. Female (Pwo) mask. Chokwe peoples. (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Late 19th to early 20th century C.E. Wood, fiber, pigment, metal.

• The Chokwe were known for trading and artistry, shown in the mask.

• It is almond shaped, closed except for a sliver, the Pwo’s eyes are shadowed with a fine white clay crushed into a powder that connects her to the spiritual realm.

  • She wears real earrings and a woven wig styled with detail.

• The Pwo is a traditional mask of the Chokwe used during ceremonies honoring a female ancestor.

  • It was a mask of a woman who was young, fertile, and had a successful births.

  • It displays features typical of Pwo masks – enlarged eye sockets, concave chin, slender nose, high forehead, balanced features, closed eyes.

• The Chokwe are a matrilineal society, showing its appreciation for women.

• The mask was carved by a man and worn by one while dancing a slow, elegant, feminine dance.

• Cingelyengelye: cruciform design that may have been adapted from Portuguese monks in the 17th century. The artist carved different kinds of cingelyengelye; it has triangles on the left face and forehead.

• Supposed tears under her eyes express her pride as a mother and the inevitable loss of her son to life.

  • The mask is buried with the woman it was made of when she dies; it was meant to honor a woman.

  • Closed eyes and mouth represent introspection, knowledge, and respect; eyes are most important aspect of face, represents second sight.

  • The mask is used as part of a masquerade; the Chokwe used masquerades with a number of performers, dancers, music, masks, and costumes.

174. Portrait mask (Mblo). Baule peoples (Cote d’Ivoire). Early 20th century C.E. Wood and pigment.

• The Baule and known for their fine wood sculptures and intricately carved ceremonial masks.

• In African mask art, performers wore portrait masks and perform rituals for the community.

  • This makes African mask art unique because it includes music, dancing, singing, and pantomime.

  • These events are political, religious, or social. Spiritually, these masks would also turn the actor into the ancestor spirit, guardian, or spiritual agent for that rite. This shows that the masks were respected, blessed in a formal way, and kept away when they weren't being used.

• This mask was created by Owie Kimou, based on Moya Yanso, who was renowned for her beauty.

• The carved wood mask has subtle paint on forehead, cheeks, hair, and head ornamentation.

• These Mblo masks portray the Baule’s ideal beauty.

  • The elongated foreheads symbolize wisdom; large, downcast eyes symbolize respectful presence, ornamentation above the face represents beauty.

• Highly skilled Baule dancers would wear the masks to honor the represented individual of the mask. The individual would sometimes dance with the person wearing the mask.

• The mask is shaped gracefully. A wrinkle-free face depicts a woman in her prime, her left eye is slightly higher than the right, the symmetry gives the mask complexity, and six projecting tubular pieces decorate the mask, without any iconographic significance.

• During the Agaba Masquerade, male dancers perform a series of complex dances, and villagers would hide the mask until Moya Yanso’s husband appeared wearing the mask.

175. Bundu mask, Sande Society, Sierra Leone. Mende peoples, 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood, cloth, fiber

• The Mende peoples live primarily in small villages; art is associates mostly with initiation ceremonies and the helmet style mask was worn by women.

  • The fellowship of Mende women prepares young girls to be wives, mothers, and members of the community.

• It is described as a “secret society” because the rituals are hidden from uninitiated children and men. Young girls are taken into a secluded spot in the forest where they are taught the spiritual knowledge, medicinal skills, and rich traditions necessary for adulthood in Mende society.

  • A masquerade then celebrates the girl’s transformation into adulthood.

    • In the masquerade, the main performer appears in full costume as the Sowo, the water spirit of the Sande Society.

• The mask represented an ideal form of beauty; its deep, black color and simmering, smooth texture represented a youthful and healthy ideal for young girls who underwent the Sande initiation.

• The neck rings have many interpretations: healthy body fat, the chrysalis of a moth, and ripples of water; these have all been confirmed by the women of the Sande Society as valid interpretations of its symbolism.

• The costume includes a black gown of raffia fibers that conceals her identity and the helmet itself weighs between two and four pounds.

  • A palm oil coat the black mask and gives it a lustrous shine representing healthy and beautiful skin.

  • The high forehead conveys wisdom, small mouth and ears represents one who does not listen to gossip.

  • The coiffure indicates elegance, wealth, and femininity.

176. Ikenga (shrine figure). Igbo peoples (Nigeria). 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood.

• Believing foremost in the importance of individual achievement, the Ikenga is a masculine sculpture that has complex meaning.

  • The Igbo did not have a centralized government because of their remote inland location; therefore, they had an open society with character features of individual success and achievement.

• The Ikenga reveres the power and skills of a man’s right hand, which can wield a weapon, allowing the men of the Ingo to earn the distinction of being fearless warriors.

  • The sculptures of Ikenga varies in size and style; however, they all included horns (of a ram), an agressive and ambitious motif and tradition.

• In the natural environment, the Ikenga held a place of honor within the owner’s space.

  • The Ikenga is regularly offered sacrifices of palm wine, pounded yams dipped in soup, and prized kola nuts.

• George Thomas Basden was a missionary who lived among the Igbo and argued that, without the Ikenga, the Igbo household would cease to exist.

177. Lukasa (memory board). Mbudye Society, Luba peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood, beads, metal.

• The Mbudye Society saw twin principles of sacred kingship and rule by council, a principle and flexible political system.

  • Mbudye is a council of men and women charged with sustaining and interpreting the political and historical principles of the Luba state.

    • They provide a counterbalance to the power of kings and chiefs, checking or reinforcing their power as necessary.

  • The Luba people also had a special council appointed to preserve their past: Men of Memory.

• The Lukasa is held in the left hand and read with the right hand; it is a unique form of art, almost like a book.

  • Central Africa had an oral culture and these boards were artistic works with symbolic meanings.

  • The beads and shells record the list of kings, genealogy, kinship, ceremonies, migrations, heroes, etc.

    • The Luba had access to gold, ivory and copper and traded with other societies.

• Luba history consists of dynamic oral narratives that reinforce the Luba kingship and supports the current leadership.

• The Luba creation myth and lineage of kings are the most important pieces of information on the Lukasa; its retelling often includes song and dance and a reader might change his reading/delivery based on the audience and assignment.

• Despite the fact widespread literacy became a part of contemporary society for the past decades, the Mbudye retained a high level of power and prestige among the Luba peoples by their exclusive ability in interpreting the Lukasa.

178. Aka elephant mask, Bamileke (Cameroon, western grasslands region). c. 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood, woven raffia, cloth, beads.

• Intricate beadwork is one of the artistic hallmarks of the Bamileke.

  • The Aka mask successfully presents the features of the elephant; two large circles represent the ears and the long front panel the trunk.

    • The masks represent the village leaders’ power in religious rituals and celebrations.

    • African elephants were regarded as the most powerful animal on the continent and as a symbol of royal authority.

• Colorful glass beads on the mask imported from Venice and the Middle East signify great wealth and trade.

  • By the nineteenth century, Europe and Africa were trading glass beads. Venetian glassworks produced thousands of beads for the African market, which were traded for everything from slaves to ivory.

• The colors have symbolic meanings: black symbolizes living and death, white symbolizes their ancestors and medicine, and red symbolizes life and women.

  • The repeated triangular pattern alludes to Leopard spots; another symbol of royal power.

• The performer completes his costume by wearing a long tunic. Being allowed to wear a headdress is considered a privilege in the society.

  • Added to the headdress are bright red feathers from the African Gray Parrot.

• In the Kuosi Society’s Masquerade, warriors of the warrior society were performers behind the mask.

• The costume is embellished with ivory bracelets and leopard pelts; furthermore, an orchestra of drums and iron gongs serve as percussion.

179. Reliquary figure or byeri. Fang peoples from southern Cameroon. 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood.

• The Fang people lived in dense rainforests and eventually migrated to southern Cameroon and northern Gabon.

  • Their migratory nature valued portable objects like the byeri.

• The byeri sits atop and guards the reliquary, a container for holy relics.

  • The Fang believed that their ancestors can continue to yield power from the afterlife and thus the reliquary is used to house their remains.

• From a secured position, the byeri guards the ancestors’ remains from evil spirits and from the forbidden look of women and uninitiated boys.

• Ritual ceremonies also involved the byeri; they are used as puppets to help teach boys of the history of the Fang.

• These sculptures are not representative of any ancestor but do have combinations of traits for descriptive details.

• The sculpture has a large head, similar to an infant and bulging muscles of an adult.

• A union of juvenile and adult characteristics encompasses the life span of humans all in one sculpture.

  • Notice additional newborn traits such as the bellybutton, and the high forehead.

  • The byeri’s expression is calm even to the point of lacking expression, which represents tranquility.

• Its clasped hands, large eyes and tense muscles project a coiled energy, ready to strike out at any threats to the relics of the reliquary.

• During the 1800s, the French colonist banned the byeri as it was in opposition to the Catholic religious doctrine.

  • In response, the Fang destroyed or sold their byeri to foreign collectors. Today they survive in museums worldwide.

180. Veranda post of enthroned king and senior wife (Opo Ogoga). Olowe of Ise, Yoruba peoples. c. 1910 - 1914 C.E. Wood, pigment.

• The Yoruba are a Sub-Saharan African ethnic group in West Africa who mainly spoke Kwa.

• Works created by Yoruba artists were meant to glorify their king and his court.

• Olowe of Ise

  • Among late 19th- and early 20th century African artists, master carver Olowe of Ise was known to Europeans as the artist of his works.

    • Most of the artists of this era were unknown to Europeans, and most works were unattributed due to the lack of writing in sub-Saharan Africa.

    • Since most artists were not usually attributed, this is a rare, unique case.

• The sculpture depicts a king sitting in front of his wife who guards from behind as smaller figures hover beneath.

  • Power was traditionally passed down and maintained by males in Yoruba culture. However, this work demonstrates the importance of the first wife's role in the Yoruba culture.

• The veranda post includes a small childlike seat where the king sits as his first wife's image stands over him, illustrating that the Yoruba king's first wife was respected and admired.

• The king wears beaded jewelry almost identical to what his wife wears and presents an overt political authority while the first wife’s understated spiritual authority.

• The wooden sculpture had a tall vertical emphasis and the sculpture in the round with negative space encouraged viewers circulation.