The Humanistic Tradition, Book 5 Romanticism, Realism, and the Nineteenth-Century World

133

TJ123-8-2009 LK VWD0011 Tradition Humanistic 6th Edition W:220mm x H:292mm 175L 115 Stora Enso M/A Magenta (V)

Pra

Volta^

So

Co

uff

o (^)
Ou
ém
é (^)
Niger
Benue
Cr
oss
(^)
NIGERIA
YORUBA KINGDOMS
DAHOMEY
KINGDOM
REPUBLIC OF
BENIN
GHANA
TOGO
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Kumasi
Ouidah
Allada
Lagos
Ta d a
Benin City
Jiebu-Ode
Owo
Oshogbo
Ife Ilesha
Oyo
Ise
Ikere
Abhomey
N
W E
S
0 250 miles
0 250 kilometers
AFRICA
133
1800s. Teams of woodcarvers using European
tools produced expressive totemic images
embellished with elaborate patterns of tat-
toos that—similar to African scarification—
were popular throughout the South Pacific
(see Figure 31.29).
In Africa, even as the incursions of the
French disrupted the Yoruba kingdoms of
Nigeria (Map 31.2), royal authority asserted
itself in the increased production of magnifi-
cent beaded objects, some of which served
to identify and embellish the power and
authority of the king. The beaded conical
crown that belonged to King Glele
(1858–1889) of Dahomey (the modern
Republic of Benin) is surmounted by a bird
that symbolizes potent supernatural powers
and the all-surpassing majesty of the ruler
(Figure 31.25). Beadwork had been
practiced in West Africa since the sixteenth
century, when the Portuguese introduced the first Venetian
glass beads to that continent. However, the golden age of bead-
work occurred in the late nineteenth century, when uniformly
sized European “seed beads” in a wide variety of colors first
became available. It is noteworthy that in West Africa beading
was an activity reserved exclusively for men.
A second example of high artistic productivity in
nineteenth-century Africa comes from the genre of freestand-
ing sculpture: the image of the war god Gu, commissioned by
King Glele as a symbol of his own military might, was carved
from wood and covered with hammered brass (said to have
come from spent bullet shells). Brandishing two scimitars, the
figure served to guard the gate that led into the city of
Abhomey. Its fierce, scarified face with its jutting jaw, the wide
flat feet, and taut, stylized physique reflect a powerful synthesis
of naturalism and abstraction that typifies nineteenth-century
African art, but, at the same time, adheres to a long tradition
of West African sculpture (Figure 31.26). The figure failed,
however, in its protective mission: shortly after the death of
King Glele in 1889, his kingdom fell to French colonial forces.

Primitivism

Europe had been involved in Africa and Oceania since the six-
teenth century. By the nineteenth century, trade in goods,
guns, and slaves had transformed African culture. In some
areas, the availability of guns had led to violence and mayhem.
Apart from imperialistic ambition, the Western penetration of
the so-called “Dark Continent” was the product of intellectu-
al curiosity, which had been stirred by Napoleon’s Egyptian
campaign (see chapter 29). Following the French invasion of
Nigeria in 1830, and especially after medical science had rec-
ognized that quinine was effective against the dreaded malar-
ia, Africa began to attract Western travelers and adventurers.
Delacroix visited Morocco in 1831, bringing back to Europe
seven sketchbooks of drawings and numerous watercolors. The
British explorers David Livingstone (1813–1873) and Henry
M. Stanley (1841–1904) spent years investigating Africa’s vast
terrain. Journalistic records of such expeditions drew attention

Figure 31.25Yoruba headdress, nineteenth century. Beads and mixed

media. This crown of a Yoruba tribal prince is ornamented with figures of

birds, chameleons, lizards, and human faces.

Map 31.2The Kingdoms of Yoruba and Dahomey.