• The first African ivory sculptures, exclusively produced for export to Europe and kept in the cabinets of curiosities of sovereigns,...

    The first African ivory sculptures, exclusively produced for export to Europe and kept in the cabinets of curiosities of sovereigns, date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. They are designated by the generic term "Afro-Portuguese" ivory. These sculptures were made in two production centers, in Sierra Leone (Temne-Bullom) and Nigeria (Kingdom of Benin). The types of objects were limited: horns, spoons, forks, and saltcellars. Some were based on African models (horns and spoons), while others were inspired by European models (forks and saltcellars). After a relatively short period of development of Afro-Portuguese ivory, the creation of ivory objects for the external market ceased for two centuries until the emergence of a new production center.

  • The ivories of the Vili from Loango owe their name to the ancient kingdom that flourished from the 15th to the 19th century along the current coastline of Congo and Cabinda (Angola). Although vast, Loango had little power and was subject to its influential neighbor, the Kingdom of Kongo. Since the first contact with the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century, the latter had claimed a dominant position in all its exchanges with Europe. In the 17th century, however, the balance shifted in favor of Loango, as the Kingdom of Kongo declined, weakened by the slave trade and conflicts among peoples. Loango then became the main player in the slave trade until its abolition in 1860. Europeans then left the Kingdom of Kongo to turn to the rich coastline of Loango.

  • Loango ivories belong to a very specific category of objects that materialize the contact between two cultures. With the establishment of numerous European trading houses in the Lower Congo region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European presence was widely visible in local art. Ivory sculptors along the coast of Loango observed the market and responded to demand by reproducing the most popular objects and motifs. Hungarian researcher Emil Torday noted during his second expedition to Congo in 1905 that the production of objects intended for sale to Europeans and Westerners was a well-established practice among the African population.

  • In the 19th century, finely carved relief elephant tusks, historically the sculpted object of reference for royalty, were also made...

    In the 19th century, finely carved relief elephant tusks, historically the sculpted object of reference for royalty, were also made to order for foreigners. The style of these Loango tusks is characterized by a realistic and imaginative representation of humans and other animals, plants, architecture, and traditional symbols, usually spiraling from the base to the top of the entire tusk. They were produced to order for foreigners or members of royalty and/or secret societies. The themes were essentially secular, unlike much of figurative art in Africa that deals with spiritual concerns. Most pieces seem to contain narratives describing important events in the life of a Kongo king or a visiting foreigner. They possess a metaphorical language imbued with multiple meanings. In general, individually carved relief figures depict African life as it was at the time of their creation. 

  • More subtly, they act as silent witnesses to the life of the Congolese peoples and their interactions with Europeans in the 19th century, representing specific themes such as daily life, trade, hunting, local flora and fauna, as well as slavery and economic exchanges between Europeans and Africans, including the importation of goods by caravans and the transport of elephant tusks.

  • At the same time, Vili sculptors began to carve three-dimensional figurines in the round. Ivory sculptors observed the market and adapted to demand, not hesitating to reproduce the objects and motifs that were most pleasing. Often inspired by what they saw in trading posts, markets, and even newspapers, most creations dealt with specific themes such as daily life, trade, hunting, local flora and fauna, and slavery. Europeans (colonial officials, travelers, traders, missionaries, military personnel) and their characteristics represented less than 10% of the objects created. I became interested in this by seeing parallels with Japanese netsuke representing Dutch merchants. 

  • These objects stand out for their level of detail and the effort of realism in rendering characters, particularly evident in facial expressions, jewelry, and clothing. However, the distinction between Europeans and Africans is not always straightforward. Characters often display mixed morphological details. Additionally, clothing can also be confusing, with Africans being depicted in European attire (or vice versa), or the attire being a combination of both styles. 

     

  • Several explanations are possible. On the one hand, it was common for an African to dress in European fashion on the coast. The reverse was rarer, although Europeans wearing European hats and jackets with an African loincloth underneath were encountered. Sometimes Europeans are recognizable by clothing specific to their function, such as the attire of missionaries and the tropical costume of traders. These figurines are inherently contact art but stand out as a mature artistic production, with undeniable iconographic richness and execution quality, even though it is not always easy to identify the circumstances of their creation and their meaning.

  • References

    - White gold, black hands-Ivory sculpture in Congo. Edited by Marc Leo Felix 2014 

     

    - Martin, Phyllis M. 1972. The External Trade of the Loango Coast 1576–1870: The Effects of Changing Commercial Relations on the Vili Kingdom of Loango. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

     

    - Samuel, I. (2023) A history of the Loango kingdom (ca.1500-1883) : Power, Ivory and Art in west-central Africa.

     

    - Schildkrout, Enid, and Curtis A. Keim, 1998. The Scramble for Art in Central Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press