African Art

Christian State was able to preserve its religion across the centuries,

in the proximity to the great centres of Islam, and to defend it against

Muslim enterprises from the epoch of the conquest of Egypt by the first

khalifes to the violent onrush of the “Dervishes” of Omdurman, one is

obliged to suppose that a like force could not have spread among

the peoples with whom it came in contact.

At all times the Abyssinian empire has included, intermingled with

each other, populations of diverse and extremely mixed origins.

Those who hold the power are considered to be Semitic and

speak, at any rate, Semitic languages, especially the Tigrai, the

Guraghe, and the Amhara or Amharics, to whom the imperial

family belongs, who claim to be descended from Solomon and the

Queen of Sheba. Others, related in general to the Cushite branch

of the race called Hamitic, speak languages which have certain

points of contact with those of the Negroes; such are the Agau,

the Bogos or Bilen, the Saho, the Kwara, the Kaffa, and a number

of tribes included in the generic term of Sidama. Certain ones, like

the Falasha, are considered to be of Israelitish origin, although

using a language analogous to those of the preceding tribes.

As for the people neighbouring Abyssinia properly speaking, to the

north (Bishari or Beja), to the east (Danakil or Afar), to the southeast

(Somali) and to the south (Galla or Oromo), they present the most

Female figure.
Malawi.
Wood, glass, 27 x 7 x 5 cm.
Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna.

Female figure with scarification.
Malawi.
Wood, height: 48 cm.
Bareiss Family collection.

The Malawi people have become best known, artistically, for their decorative

utilitarian objects, such as baskets, combs, bowls, snuffboxes, spoons, axes,

pipes, and mortars. A few personal items were incorporated into figurative

elements once in a while, but free-standing sculptures such as this were rare and

idiosyncratic. Considering the lack of specific ethnographic information relating

to context, it had to be assumed that all figurative sculpture from this region

was completed by self-inspired in response to the demand of expatriates in

search of African souvenirs.

Thankfully, many new figures have been discovered which have early colletion

dates allowing the issue to be re-examined. For example, the pieces we have

exhibited here are too complex to be considered of spontaneous invention, and

further research implies some of these carvings served an educational purpose as

secret, age-initiation schools were widespread. Tangible objects, most of which

were fragile and ephemeral but would have been too expensive and difficult to

recarve, were used as instructional tools meant to instill valuable cultural

information. Due to their fragility, these would have likely needed to be preserved

in caves or underground to preserve them for future “classes” or generations of

initiates. Culminating in the initiation of the First Birth, Yao girls were expected to

undergo a more thorough and protracted series of classes. Because of this, most

figures depict various stages of womanhood. Any similarity in style or form may be

an indication of the same initiation master rather that the hand of the same artist.