African Art and Architecture

G

Mangbetu and Azande

The Mangbetu and Azande inhabit the north-eastern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the border regions of Sudan. Mangbetu ideas of female beauty stressed an elongation of the forehead produced by tight wrapping and emphasized by an elaborate crested hairstyle. This distinctive style was associated with the prestige of the Mangbetu royal court and was widely imitated by neighbouring peoples, including the Azande. It was represented on a wide range of artefacts (including free-standing figures, pots, knife handles, ivory horns, and anthropomorphic harps) produced by both the Mangbetu and their neighbours. Recent research has suggested that the popularity of human figures in Mangbetu art owes much to the interest shown by European officials and collectors who purchased vast quantities of artefacts in the region in the first two decades of the 20th century. Among the other notable art forms of the region were mural painting, decorated barkcloth, metalworking, and the construction of large meeting-halls.

H

Chokwe

The Chokwe live in eastern Angola and in areas of the south-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and western Zambia. Chokwe notions of kingship and sacred power were greatly influenced by the legendary culture hero Tshibinda Ilunga, a hunter of Luba origin, who is thought to have founded an imperial dynasty among the Lunda, to whom the Chokwe themselves paid tribute until the late 19th century. The Chokwe produced many small, finely carved wooden sculptures of chiefs and royal wives, including some depicting Tshibinda Ilunga as a hunter wearing a chief’s hat, holding a staff and gun, and in some examples accompanied by tiny protective spirits. Items of chiefly regalia that were carved with seated or standing figures of chiefs included snuff and tobacco mortars, sceptres, pipes, and headrests. Chiefs’ stools were ornamented with brass studs and supported by caryatid figures, while chairs were carved with arrays of figures, some in scenes of initiation. Masks made from wood, resin, cloth, and feathers were used in the course of initiating young men.

IX

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the region encompassing the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, and South Africa. The rock art produced by the southern San and other hunter-gatherer communities is the oldest surviving record of artistic activity on the African continent, while associated forms such as the decoration of ostrich eggshells and leather bags also seem to be of considerable antiquity. Apart from their distinctive pottery style, little is known of the art of the Khoikhoi, nomadic pastoralists who have lived in areas of the southern High Veld for some 2,000 years. Recent archaeological and linguistic research has complicated the earlier picture of a large-scale incursion of Bantu-speaking people bringing with them an already developed package of new technology, most notably the techniques of iron-working and crop cultivation. Nevertheless, by about the 3rd or 4th centuries ad, a gradual southern migratory drift had brought settled iron-using farming communities to the eastern Transvaal and the area south of the Zambezi. Although they remained reliant on agriculture for the majority of their nutritional needs, herds of cattle became increasingly important in mediating exchanges such as bride wealth payments and took on a wide cultural significance. As elsewhere in Africa, much of the art history of the region remains obscure, but key objects and sites such as the Lydenberg heads and Great Zimbabwe may now be understood within a historical process rather than as isolated phenomena.

A

The Lydenberg Heads

Seven terracotta heads, known as the Lydenberg heads, were uncovered from the site of an early mixed farming village in the Lydenberg valley, eastern Transvaal. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the area was occupied in the 6th century ad. Pits contained animal bones, pottery shards, beads, and metal ornaments, while slag indicated that iron was produced in the village. No similar heads have been found elsewhere but large numbers of smaller modelled figures from other sites indicate a tradition of pottery sculpture. The heads themselves are hollow, with bands of incised decoration around the wide necks, and modelled features. Only two are large enough to have served as helmet-masks, while the others have small holes on either side of the neck, which may have served to attach them to some structure. The two large heads have small animal figures on the crown. Traces of white pigment suggest that the heads were once painted. The use of small pottery figurines in initiation contexts is widespread in southern Africa but archaeologists can at present only speculate on the possible uses of these heads.

B

Mapungubwe

By the end of the 1st millennium ad, there is clear evidence of the emergence of larger-scale settlements in the Limpopo river basin. Although cattle-herding remained the economic basis of these communities, new features suggest evidence of a social hierarchy and of involvement in long-distance trade. The largest of these sites was on a sandstone hill known as Mapungubwe. Rough stone walling was used and stratified deposits indicate successive building and rebuilding of houses on and around the hill between the 11th and early 12th centuries. It has been suggested that Mapungubwe was the capital of a state, the hill itself being the elite residential and ceremonial area. Evidence of artistic activity at Mapungubwe is apparent in the rich burials, where large quantities of gold jewellery, including a small gold-plated model of a rhinoceros, were found. Other craft specialization included ivory-working and weaving. Beads and more complex cotton cloth were imported from Arab traders on the coast. Recent research has suggested that similar large-scale communities also developed at about the same period in eastern Botswana.