Tusk

Object Details

Label Text

This ivory tusk, possibly dating to the late 19th century, is an unusually fine example of an important tradition of export art. It was carved by an artist who lived along the Loango coast in the Congo region. Almost certainly using iron tools, he rendered with exquisite detail and lively animation a series of pictorial sequences in relief that spiral the length of the tusk. Figures in the scenes depict everyday Loango life as experienced by coastal peoples during the latter half of the 19th century.

The scenes are separate vignettes and not meant to be read as a continuous story. Among the important representations on the tusk are (from the bottom): an individual in a medallion who wears a hat and cape decorated with diamond-shaped motifs; a sacrifice; a procession of chained figures; a Kongo ritual specialist in full regalia; a coastal trading house; a European trading ship; a man attacked by an elephant; a woman carrying a child and goods while a monkey tries to lift her wrapper; and a woman nursing a child.

Certain motifs and details of the horn combined with its narrative composition point toward an interpretation that is linked to Kongo notions of death and the afterlife.

The earlier tradition of nonfigurative Kongo ivory horns carved and played in Kongo courts can be compared with the later figurative Kongo ivory horns carved for export to Europe. The spiral form is an important compositional device found on horns from both traditions. In the former it has been speculated that the open spiral compositional lines allude to the path the dead follow from earth to the ancestral realm and back again as newborns. In the latter it has been suggested that the parade of figures symbolizes the long winding procession followed by both the living and the dead as they climb from the ocean to the mountains leading to the Kongo capital and the home of the ancestors.

Description

Ivory tusk with relief carving arranged in eight registers and a nursing woman with child carved on top.

Provenance

Private collection, Scotland, -- to 1996

Michael Graham-Stewart, London, 1996

Exhibition History

African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (installed June 20, 2017 to August 12, 2019)

Treasures 2008, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 9-August 24, 2008

BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006

Captive Passages: The Atlantic Slave Trade and the Making of the Americas, Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia, April 6, 2002-January 5, 2003; Anacostia Community Museum, Washington D.C., February 2-August 21, 2003; South Street Seaport Museum, New York, October 1, 2003-February 15, 2004

A Spiral of History, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 1-April 26, 1998

Published References

Hornbeck, Stephanie. 2016. "Ivory: I dentification and Regulation of a Precious Material." National Museum of African Art Conservation Lab publication. p.9.

Mellor, S. 2007. From Delicious to Not Quite Right: Subtleties in Discerning the Authenticity of African Art. Objects Specialty Group Postprints, Volume 14 CD. Washington, DC: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, p.27, no.31.

National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 109, no. 75.

National Museum of African Art. 2006. BIG/small Family Guide. Exhibition booklet. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Nicolls, Andrea. 1998. A Spiral of History: A Carved Tusk from the Loango Coast. Exhibition brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Patton, Sharon F. and Bryna Freyer. 2008. Treasures 2008. Washington D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 16-17.

Content Statement

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Date

ca. 1860

Maker

Kongo artist

Geography

Loango Coast, Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Cabinda Province, Angola

Topic

elephant

crocodile

mother and child

foreigner

weapon

boat

bushcow

male

Trade

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Credit Line

Museum purchase

Data Source

National Museum of African Art

Object number

96-28-1

Type

Sculpture

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Medium

Ivory

Dimensions

H x W x Diameter: 72.4 x 14.6 x 6 cm (28 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.)

Record ID

nmafa_96-28-1

Metadata Usage

CC0

GUID

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7a3f230ba-972a-4ddf-82be-269516cb20ed