1. AFRICA BEFORE 1800
GARDINER 15-1 PP

2. AFRICAN ART BEFORE 1800 - BACKGROUND
Core beliefs and practices
Africans believe that ancestors never die and can be addressed
Sense of family and respect for elders
Worshipping nature deities
Elevating rulers to sacred status
Many African sculptures are representations of ancestors -> carved to venerate their spirits
Fertility of the individual and the land is highly regarded
Great ancient civilizations in Nubia, Egypt, and Carthage dominated North Africa
African kingdoms came and went with regularity

3. PREHISTORY – ROCK ART
Thousands of rock engravings and paintings found at hundreds of site across the African continent
Painted animals from the Apollo 11 Cave in southwestern Africa -> perhaps 25,000 years old
Greatest concentrations of rock art
Sahara Desert to the north
The Horn of Africa in the east
Kalahari Desert to the south
Caves and rock outcroppings in the southern Africa
Depictions of animals and humans in many different positions and activities

4. TASSILI N’AJER
Running horned woman, rock painting from Tassilin’Ajjer, Algeria, BCE
One of the finest and earliest examples of rock art -> thousands of years older than the first African sculptures
Depicts a running woman with body paint, raffia skirt, and horned headgear
Ceremonial attire -> apparently in a ritual context

5. NOK – RAFIN KURA HEAD
Nok head, from Rafin Kura, ca. 500BCE to 200CE, terracotta
The earliest African sculptures in the round come from Nigeria
The Nok culture produced expressive terracotta heads with large eyes, mouths, and ears
The pierced eyes, mouth and ears equalized the heat during the firing process

6. LYDENBURG HEAD
Head, from Lydenburg, South Africa, ca. 500 CE, terracotta
This Lydenburg head resembles and inverted terracotta pot -> may have been a helmet mask -> ceremonial function?
Sculptor depicted features by applying thin clay fillets
Scarification marks -> sign of beauty in Africa
Small, unidentifiable animal sits atop the head

7. IGBO UKWU – EQUESTRIAN FLY WHISK
Equestrian figure on a fly-whisk handle, from Igbo Ukwu, Nigeria, 9th to 10th century CE, copper- bronze alloy
Oldest known African lost-wax cast bronze
Artist exaggerated the size of the ruler compared with his steed

8. ART AND LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA
Relationships between leaders and art forms -> strong, complex, and universal in Africa
Leaders have the power and wealth to command artists and material
Adornment
Home furnishing
Projection of power
Dispensing of art
Exclusive prerogative of use
Durable and costly materials
Draw attention to superior status
Handheld objects extend reach and magnify gestures
Regalia and implements
Arts that leaders control create pageantry, mystery, and spectacle

9. IDEALIZED NATURALISM AT ILE-IFE
King from Ita Yemoo (Ife), Nigeria, 11th to 12th century, zinc-brass
The site of Ile-Ife in southwestern Nigeria is considered the cradle of Yoruba civilization
Unlike most African sculptures, this royal figure has a naturalistically modeled torso and facial features that approach portraiture
The head -> the locus of wisdom/being -> disproportionately large