Yoruba Olumeye (Kneeling Female Offering Bowl)
Nigeria
Earthenware pot with four handles,with applied sculptural elements, possibly Igbo people
Nigeria ca. 1900-24
African art motives
In many parts of Africa there is still a vital interaction that occurs between the people, their pottery and arts, and the spirit world. Originally, all across Africa, their ceremonial art had a purpose – attracting blessings for good harvests, bringing fertility, warding off disease along with natural calamities and evil spirits and lso helping make social decisions and reaching judgments. The finished products were usually subjected to a ritualistic process to raise its presence and power. Their creative instincts are still a force in producing works that reinforce spiritual concepts ranging from the liturgical art of Ethiopia to representations of the Dogon creation myths and countless other deities of worship like goddess icons of Mama Wati. Some of the most spectacular pieces are produced specifically to be presented on their shrines. While changes in religious beliefs and practices has led to the abandonment of some art and pottery forms and traditions, in other places the ritual significance of pots and art objects still endures. These pieces were formerly placed on altars with each vessel having a very specific symbolic meaning and upholding a cohesive framework for their social and spiritual beliefs. With the unveiling of more ancient pots and artifacts through archaeology and deeper interaction in Africa, the social and mystical meanings of individual pieces are being discovered. This has been aided by gleaning knowledge about the women and men who created them and the social, economic, and spiritual contexts from which they were conceived, created, and used.
African Ligbi culture mask
The African sculptural human forms aren’t always proportional and can exaggerate specific bodily characteristics to emphasize or draw attention to a particular aspect. The heads are quite often larger than the body with wide lips and geometrically simplified shapes and abstract figural forms being common. The 15th century Benin statues were graceful with tall and slender proportions and they liked to make bronze figures of their kings ( Onis) which were much more naturalistic in style.
Silvia Forni’s work with potters in several communities in Cameroon led her to the conclusion that from birth to death and beyond, pots are important agents in their social life. Lisa Aronson’s research into Vodun arts in Ghana revealed that the methods employed for building their everyday and ritual (Vodun) pots, can be understood as a visualization of the spiritual world, especially when seen in concert with the iconographic embellishment of the vessels. The Shona artists of Zimbabwe believe their art comes from deep within and that they are connected to a Pan African cosmology. Other African artists usually share a similar trait, their works reflecting a freedom and spontaneity typical of artistry rich in spirit.
Increased access to modern conveniences and utilitarian products have changed the demand for pottery in some African locations while other places are still thriving. Nigeria and west-central Cameroon are still pottery-rich areas while the modern Yoruba are prolific potters with origins that reach back to exquisite vessels and sculptures from their ancient past. They are still producing a diverse array of vessels that includes water containers, storage pots, ritual vessels and decorative arts. It is not uncommon to witness pottery and art objects being created with the exact techniques that have been employed for centuries. ( see here ).
Michael Cardew gave an excellent account of an African artist at work with his impressions of Lady Kwali manipulating clay:
“To watch Ladi Kwali building her pots by hand is an enlightening experience, quite as stimulating as one’s first sight of a good thrower at work. You realize with surprise that it is not necessary to have a potter’s wheel in order to achieve pots which have the appearance of perfect symmetry. One also experiences … the exhilaration of watching a craftsman who seems to be doing the impossible and to be always on the brink of disaster, yet is entirely unafraid, and entirely confident with the confidence that comes from a lifetime of devotion to the craft. Crowning all this, her personal charm radiates all her art and everything she does and seems to be the epitome of the deep-seated culture of Africa.”
A bronze figural weight used for weighing gold dust used as a currency in the Baule region
‘Dan Tribe’, Ivory Coast, National Geographic, July 1982, Michael and Aubine Kirtley
Baule Mblo mask from Cote D’Ivoire, Africa
Ethiopian Omo Valley face art
columbusmagazine.nl
African Mask from the Dan people of Ivory Coast or Liberia
Wood, fiber, metal ca. prior to 1976
Water Vessel from Chad, Africa
20th century
‘Old Time Friend’ – Simon Muriithi
Kenya Arts Diary
Carved wood ancestral sculpture
Tikar, Cameroon
Djenne equestrian figure, Mali
c. 13th-16th century (terracotta)
An African Mask from the Tikar tribe of Cameroon-17inches-high
“Baba Ichanga” wearing traditional gelede mask and holding a baby Sanga village, Ketou, Benin
photo © David Paul Carr
Mangbetu anthropomorphic jar / vessel in the form of a woman—Democratic Republic of Congo-19th-20th century – Met, NY
Tri legged grain storage ceramic pot – Bamileke, Cameroon
Baluba round Mask
Wooden anthropomorphic cup from the Kuba people of DR Congo, Africa
A ceramic vessel from the Mambila peoples – Nigeria, Cameroon
African Baule Moon Mask—Ivory Coast
Shona abstract sculpture – ‘Reflection’ by Ishmael Chitiyo, Zinbabwe
Height – 39cm
Bottle – Ngbandi Congo
Early mid-20th-century
Tikar-mask in black wood and brass
Cameroon
Cavalier Bini Edo
Chokwe Chief holding a sanza, a musical instrument of the ideophone family, with metal keys and gourd resonator.
20th century
photo: Werner Foreman
Teme Bundu coming of age ritual mask
Serre Leone
Charles Searles
Carved ebony female bust
Besmo, Kenya
Fang mask – Gabon
African female head with crown – copper alloy
Helmet Mask (Nyachi) from the Kuba people (Kete group) from the Sankuru River region of the DR Congo Wood, pigment, copper alloy
ca. 19th – 20th century – Met, NY
John (Silver) Mbugua
Tunnel vision – Ivory Coast, Africa
1947
Janus mask from the Markha people of Mali
Kamal Shah
Nairobi, Kenya
Porcelainous stoneware vessel – Mohammed Ahmed Abdalla
1990’s
Ladi Kwali – large Water Pot
circa 1960 — Height 40.6cm-16 inches
Zulu earthenware pot
Malangatana
Malangatana Valente Ngwenya was a Mozambican painter
Mask of the ‘mblo’ group from the Baule people of the Ivory Coast
Sudanese potter – Mohammed Ahmed Abdalla
1991
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
Moses Muigai
Old Kuba mask
Artenegro Gallery
NEJA2047 ( Paul Lewin)
Zimbabwean sculptor – Peter Gwisa
Oshun deity of Ifá and Yoruba
Double ceremonial cup – Penne, Africa
‘Lovers’ – Joe Joseph
Zimbabwe shona
Songye two headed wooden figure sculpture
Congo Republic
‘Angel Of Joy’ – Tabitha Wathuku, Kenya
Kenya Arts Diary 2011
Costume preparation – Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Carbonised and burnished coil built terracotta pot – Magdalena Odundo
Geometrical decorated sgraffito vessel – Nupe people, Africa
Mohammed Ahmed Abdalla
Early in his career Abdalla drew from his knowledge of ancient Sudanese practices as well as his training in England to design utilitarian pots with delicate glazes. His later forms, with which this example belongs, are the result of bold experiments with new slips and surface treatments. This porcelaneous stoneware form was coiled, smoothed and coated with a series of glazes when it was leather hard. After the glazes dried, the pot was fired in an electric kiln. To produce the reptilian surface it was then dipped in a magnesium slip and fired again.
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
Ibis? bird sculpture – Calao Senoufo
African ceramic pot from the Dick Jemison Tribal Art Collection
Birmingham Museum of Art
Yaure Ivory Coast mask
Image from The End of eating Everything : animated video by Wangechi Mutu – 2013
Yoruba covered bowl
Anang artist, Nigeria—Mama Wati figurine
Mami Wata (Mother Water), is a water spirit recognized by peoples throughout Africa and the African diaspora, reflected in masks and figures that bear her likeness.
Photograph by Franko Khoury
Magdalene Odundo ceramic vessel, Kenya
1997
Abstract relief facade, Zaria, Northern Nigeria.
© Bruno Barbey
Recycled eyeware sculpture by Cyrus Kabiru
Kenya Arts Diary 2014
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