Djenne POV

At a 2016 auction of the Merton Simpson estate, several persons (including myself) spent hours trying to figure out the merits of the Djenne piece shown below.

Djenne Figure

I’m not kidding, it literally took me six years to come to a place of real appreciation for the piece. The following paragraph went a long way to settle this for me in framing a perspective of famine/drought, emaciation and prayer to serpent totems or shrines,

“A very large number of terracotta sculptures have been found in the Inland Delta of the Niger River area of Mali, which date from the last centuries of the first millennium A.D. through the 15th century.

The style is often referred to as the “Djenné” style, named after a city that rose to prominence in this area in approximately 500 A.D. and experienced great prosperity until the end of the 15th century.

Religion:

Oral histories have been examined, including the story of Wagadu Bida, the founder of the Wagadu, or Ghana Empire. The myth tells of the birth of a serpent from the first marriage of Dinga, the leader of the Soninké clan. The serpent, named Wagadu Bida, was the source of fertility and well being. Each year a virgin had to be sacrificed to secure the blessings of the serpent.

One year, a young Soninké man, distraught that the girl he loved was to be sacrificed, slaughtered the serpent. The devastating drought that followed resulted in the dispersal of the Soninké and the founding of the Djenné culture. It is possible that the images of figures covered with serpents that were created in great numbers by the artists of ancient Djenné illustrate this myth and a subsequent cult of serpents. The numerous figures that show evidence of disease may represent supplicants who prayed to the spirit embodied in the shrine for healing” (source).

Merton Simpson Djenne

Consider a similar perspective form Bernard de Grunne on Djenne-Jeno,

“As to the meaning of snakes, VanDyke has found at least 200 figurative works with herpetological symbolism (Disease and Serpent Imagery in Figurative Terra Cotta Sculpture from the Inland Niger Delta, of Mali). She suggests that some of these snakes could represent parasitic worms coming out of the mouth, ears, nose and even vagina of some figures. I have also underlined the ancient symbolism attached to snakes starting with the founding myth of Dinga, the first king of the Soninke Wagadu empire circa A.D. 800, who fathered many children and one large snake called Wagadu Bida. Snakes, thus, are connected to ancestor worship but could also relate to the treatment of diseases represented in the seated figure analyzed here. In the ancient oral histories of the Wagadu and Mali empires, illness was framed as a spiritual test and overcoming it, a mark of spiritual power for both the afflicted and their healers. Such beliefs persist into the present.”

The final nail that brought me around was purchasing a couple items that simply could not get the classic “Djenne” head right (see upper side profile). The concavity of the face, jutting chin, square lips, lozenge shaped eyes, and the thick neck are hard enough as it is, but for the Djenne artist it usually comes with a lean or glance to emphasize tolerance and/or perseverance.

Katsina, Haniwa and the Japanese connection

Sometime in 2016, at the Yale University Art Gallery I came across two similar figures in adjoining rooms, from remote cultures. In Mexican preColumbian cultures (Nayarit, Jalisco), Nigerian (Dakakari), Ghana (Akan, Koma) there are clay/terracotta funerary forms but mostly the representations are pretty unique.

The Haniwa is a Japanese funerary object from the Kofun period (300-600AD).

Haniwa were created according to the wazumi process in which mounds of coiled clay were built up to shape the figure, layer by layer (see Modelling of Nok terra-cotta). The name literally translates into ‘the circle of clay’, referring to the arrangement of the Haniwa above the tomb.

Katsina and Haniwa Comparison

Because the haniwa display contemporary clothing, hairstyle, farming tools, and architecture, these sculptures are important as a historical archive of the Kofun Period.

Katsina State was located on the trade routes between the ancient city of Kano and the Sahara. A period of three hundred years (200BC to 100AD) has been suggested. The figures were attached to the top of cylindrical or globular jars and were perhaps funerary markers. Figures are typically seated with caps, and limbs are disproportionally smaller and less thick.

Bayard Rustin, Nok and Sokoto.

Collecting African Tribal Art, through the inherent nature of its complexity was always going to lead me to a rabbit hole or two. On the Richter scale my rabbit holes are ranked from a sojourn through wikipedia to a midnight conference with my pals Malibu and Piney… and this one turned into a real doozy.

Bayard Rustin – LIFE magazine cover.

Connecting the dots was simple enough,

• The main character, Bayard Rustin put together what is clearly a special collection of African Terracotta, primarily Nok, and Sokoto. Rustin received a posthumous award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 for his work in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.[1]

Yale University Nok Collection video link

• The collection ultimately found a home at Yale University  via sale to Joel and SusAnna Grae of New Haven, CT.

Bayard Rustin is buried in the Civil Rights movement lore. The first I heard of him was when I viewed the Yale University video (link above). While he led a very interesting political life his commitment to nonviolence, and the civil rights cause is an amazing testament to the strength of human resilience.

One of my favorite parts of the video showed SusAnna Grae commenting –“the very judgmental Sokoto would look at you and say ‘well, what did you do today’…”.

Sokoto Bust – (Source: The Birth of Art in Black Africa, pg. 105)

Invariably these collections end up in private hands. The fact that this collection is now available to the public for free viewing, and research is a good thing. My preference would have been to view the collection at a Historically Black College or University (insert Howard University plug here), but most of these institutions have neither the depth of networks nor finances to put this effort together.

 

 

 

[1] http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20131122/civil-rights-activist-rustins-african-art-collection-makes-its-way-to-yale-gallery

My African Terracotta Workout Buddies.

I prefer my office cubicle to be clean, bare, and sterile. No family pictures, no degrees or certificates dressed to the nines in fancy molding or mummified laminations. The Madeba inspired reference to quotes from Invictus, and the Henry Thoreau quotes from ‘Walden’ will never again grace my workplace abode (long story, different blog).

At the mancave it’s just a little different. Here I need the complexity of tribal figures, and a cacophony of cultural rhythm and rhymes to pare the pace of my racing mind, and take the edge off the solitude that Netflix can’t totally eviscerate.

There are three components that help me stick to my daily ‘core’ workout routine.

The Oba corner bronze – this is my wake up latte – ‘no pain no gain’ inspiration mixed with delusional aspiration. There is something about Old Benin that seemed unfulfilled, yet had so much potential.

Benin – Bust of Young Oba

The living room Igbo Ikenga (aka the Kunin Ikenga) –  provides the stubborn motif, mixed with a slight taste of a ‘take no prisoners’ visual.

[E1] The Kunin Ikenga – from the collection of Myron Kunin

The African Terracotta are the most interesting – now the odd couple, but hopefully the audience will be expanded to three in the near future (don’t judge me).

Workout Buddies – African Terracota (Djenne)

The visage presented by my African Terracotta workout buddies is totally non-judgemental, and allows me to fall from lofty goals on occasion (like the ‘hot cross bun six pack’ vs the six pack abs I strive for). They’re like the quiet cheerleader squad sans short skirts, and frills. They recognize the grind of old age and just encourage me to keep it moving on a day to day basis.

 

 

Notes on African Terracotta

These notes provide some historical perspective on the age of sub-saharan African terracotta, location of origin, cultural traditions, and pricing. While developing an African Tribal Art collection the main source for great older pieces are auctioned collections whose owners have developed their own specific sub-collections.

Map of the Ancient Civilizations of Nigeria

Source: Bernard de Grunne; The Birth of Art in Black Africa, 1998 pp.19.

Nok head fragment.

Description : Jos Plateau region, Central Nigeria, West Africa, 500 BCE to 200 CE. Terracotta with heavy temper and remains of a finer burnished surface slip. 6-1/2″ H. Mounted on steel base. Classical Nok terracotta was first found in 1943 deep within a tin mine, near the present-day town of Nok, situated on the Jos Plateau in central Nigeria. The exact use of these portrait-like figures has yet to be discovered; none of these sculptures has ever been found in situ and any remains of ancient structures are practically non-existent today. However, it has been suggested the hollow terracotta figures, which this head came from, were ancestral effigies kept in shrine houses. This hollow terracotta example is made of a coarse, quartz-tempered clay. The features were hand-modeled and show a remarkable sophistication for such an early date in Iron Age, Sub-Saharan Africa. The style of Nok facial features shows similarity to more historic and contemporary bronze and wooden sculptures found among the Benin and Yoruba peoples of Nigeria. It has been said these ancient figures represent the beginnings of black African art.

Provenance: Eugene Behlen, once head of the dept. of exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, for 25 years. Acquired prior to 1987.

Estimate: $3,00-$4,000

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2014

Djenne Sculpture

Female Figure with Four Children

12th–17th century

Terracotta

35 x 21.5 x 18.5 cm (13 3/4 x 8 7/16 x 7 5/16 in.)

Charles B. Benenson, B.A. 1933, Collection

2006.51.116

Geography: 

Made in Inland Niger Delta, Sahel, Mali

Culture: 

Djenne

Classification: 

Sculpture

Status: 

On view (2015)

Bibliography: 

Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, African Art in American Collections (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989), 67, fig. 41.

Susan Vogel and Jerry L. Thompson, Closeup: Lessons in the Art of Seeing African Sculpture from an American Collection and the Horstmann Collection, exh. cat. (New York: The Center for African Art, 1990), 128–29, fig. 55.

“Acquisitions, July 1, 2005–June 30, 2006,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2006): 222.

Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 178, pl. 162.

Frederick John Lamp, Accumulating Histories: African Art from the Charles B. Benenson Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2012), 66, 134, ill.

Bernard de Grunne, Djenné-Jeno: 1000 Years of Terracotta Statuary in Mali (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2014), fig. 12.

Photo credit: Yale University Art Gallery

Dakakari sculpture

Description : Dakakari culture, Nigeria, ca. 19th to 20th century CE. This large, hollow pottery figure shows a four-legged, horned animal (maybe a hartebeest?) with ears erect and a collar of some kind around its neck; it stands perched atop a bulbous rough sphere. Pottery of this kind was observed in Dakakari graveyards through the 1940s, but it recalls that of the Sokoto (among others), the ancestors of the Dakakari who lived 2000 years ago in the same part of Nigeria. Ethnographic accounts say that some graves had up to fifteen pieces of pottery like this placed around them; these were frequently broken and a description from a Dakakari graveyard in 1944 by a visiting Englishman laments the scattered pottery around the area — but this destruction was certainly intentional. Dakakari women were the potters and passed their skills down via their daughters.

Size: 7.5″ W x 26″ H (19 cm x 66 cm).

Provenance: Ex. Peter Arnovick Collection

Estimate: $700-$800

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2015

Katsina Head

Description : Africa, Northeast Nigeria, Katsina, ca. 1st to 4th century CE. An ancient Katsina terracotta janus (double-headed) figure that once belonged to a statue that would have measured approximately 15 to 30 inches tall. Both sides of this piece depict a bearded male. Very few Katsina janus heads have been documented, according to scholar Claire Boullier. What’s more, the shared stylings of these heads demonstrates that they were actually created by a single sculptor which corroborates the progressive idea that Katsina sculptors possessed individualized styles almost 2000 years ago. This said, the sculptor still adhered to stylistic rules embraced by the Katsina culture such as the globular head form, the half-closed eyes, short nose, and pointed chin–all characteristics adhered to by most Katsina sculptors. Additional intriguing features include the perforated ear plugs, pronounced unibrow, parted lips with slightly jutting lower lip, and elaborately incised coiffure with two applied nodules over each forehead. The visages of this piece also show traits akin to Nok figural sculpture such as elongated heads, high smooth foreheads, and elaborate fanciful coiffures, as Katsina visual culture was most certainly influenced by the Classical Nok culture. Scholar Claire Boullier also points to similarities between Katsina and Sokoto sculptures that may prompt further exploration of the networks between these ancient African cultures. For discussions of a similar Katsina janus head see Claire Boullier, “African Terra Cottas. A Millinary Heritage, musee Barbier-Mueller and Somogy (eds), 2008: cat. 81 p. 190.

Size: 7.25″ L x 6.5″ W x 7.25″ H (18.4 cm x 16.5 cm x 18.4 cm)

Provenance: Ex Peter Arnovick Collection, Los Altos CA

Estimate: $700-$1,200

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2015

Tenenku Sculpture

Description : Africa, Tenenku culture, Mali, ca. 13th to 16th centuries CE. This is a seated terracotta humanoid figure on a slight platform; the figure has elongated facial features, bracelets and anklets. It appears to be female but may also be interpreted as having both male and female characteristics. The Tenenku people, part of the Malian Empire, are known for their powerful anthropomorphic and zoomorphic sculptures. The Islamic Malian Empire lasted for four hundred years; the emperors traced their ancestry back to Bilal, Mohammed’s muezzin, who was thought to have journeyed to the west and settled the area of modern day Mali. The empire had consistent contact with the rest of the Islamic world, and history records visits by emperors to Mecca. Interestingly to us, the Malian Empire often absorbed smaller cultures, like the Tenenku and their rough contemporaries the Bura, without changing their artistic styles — so a piece like this one was made around the same time as the completely different looking Bura grave markers! Unfortunately at this time we do not know the function of these large, heavy pieces of pottery — but hopefully with more research, we will soon find out!

Size: 12″ L x 9.2″ W x 18.75″ H (30.5 cm x 23.4 cm x 47.6 cm)

Provenance: Ex-Dr. Peter Arnovick Collection

Estimate: $1,200-$1,500

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2015

Sokoto Sculpture

Description : Sokoto, modern day Nigeria, ca. 500 BCE to 200 CE. This is a hollow terracotta shrine figure showing a full body, with the head larger proportionally than the rest and a cylindrical body; it is a male figure with arms and legs curled, wearing elaborately coiffed hair and a beard. Sokoto state in modern day northwest Nigeria is in the Niger River Valley, at the confluence of ancient trade routes and roughly contemporary with the Nok culture to its south. Very little is known of the ancient Sokoto culture; Bayard Rustin, who originally collected the Sokoto collection for the Yale University Art Gallery, recorded that most terracotta pieces like this one were found in large manmade mounds. Characteristic Sokoto figures are large, hollow, thin-walled, and low-fired human figures with heavy eyebrows and beards. They are made of a rough earthenware mixed with quartz and mica, surfaced with an ocher or mica schist slip (some of which has worn through on this figure). This slip would have been burnished with a smooth pebble.

Size: 5.75″ L x 8.75″ W x 20.2″ H (14.6 cm x 22.2 cm x 51.3 cm)

Provenance: Ex. Peter Arnovick Collection

Estimate: $800-$1,000

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2015

Koma Sculpture

Description : West Africa, North Ghana, Koma, ca. 16th century CE. A female pottery figure elaborately detailed with traits characteristic of the Koma figurines including an elongated head with large coffee-bean shaped eyes, as well as other bold features, especially a pronounced chin, and stylized coiffure. She is further adorned with an applied necklace/collar, loin cloth, armlets, and bracelets. Striking too are her extremely long fingers, pronounced breasts, and “outie” navel. Koma figures were first discovered in the 1980s during archaeological fieldwork directed by Professor Ben Kankpeyeng (University of Ghana). Created by a previously little-understood people in what is known as Koma Land, the figures are often fragmentary. This example, however, is in excellent condition. Although there is a paucity of literature on how such figurines were used, scholars have suggested they were used in special ceremonies and rituals in which the spirits of the ancestors were invoked. This piece has a concave receptacle atop her head, and it is possible that liquid offerings or libations were poured into it. Some have associated this practice with healing rituals.

Size: 3.25″ W x 12″ H (8.3 cm x 30.5 cm)

Provenance: Ex Peter Arnovick Collection, Los Altos CA

Estimate: $500-$700

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2015

Igbo Terracotta

Description : West Africa, Niger River Delta, Igbo, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. A fascinating terracotta shrine effigy created by the Igbo peoples of the Niger River Delta, its unusual form elaborately adorned at the top end with two human visages with bold coffee bean shaped eyes and scarification marks upon their foreheads beneath what appear to be two beak-like forms, the opening between holding an old wick. Across the body of the vessel are two magnificently modeled salamanders and cross-hatched designs perhaps representing additional scarification marks.

Size: 3.5″ W x 7.875″ H (8.9 cm x 20 cm)

Provenance: Ex Peter Arnovick Collection, Los Altos CA

Estimate: $400-$600

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2015

Bura Terracotta

Description : Africa, Bura /Asinda / Sikka area, present day Niger and Burkina Faso, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. This is a thick-walled, smooth terracotta cylindrical figure with three nubbins representing sexual organs, a prominent nose, small mouth and eyes, and decorated hair. Unfortunately, little is known about the culture that lived in this area when this statue was made, because it was only recently discovered and there have been very few scientific excavations. What has been found are large cemeteries with impressive necropoli, which provide evidence that this was a wealthy, complex society. They buried their dead in conical urns, often topped with figures decorated with incised or stamped patterns like this one.

Size: 4.25″ L x 4.25″ W x 10.25″ H (10.8 cm x 10.8 cm x 26 cm)

Provenance: Ex-Dr. Peter Arnovick Collection, Los Altos, CA.

Estimate: $550-$650

Source : Artemis Gallery, 2015

Akan Head.

Description : Ca. mid 19th century, Akan Tribe, head of female, used and placed at the grave site, measures 10″ tall.

Estimate: $500-$700

Source : Estates Unlimited, 2005

 

 

 

Kongo Exhibit and the Djenne Diversion.

One fine Saturday evening (10/10/15) I managed to finally get to the Metropolitan Museum for an exhibition of Kongo Tribal art (Kongo: Power and Majesty). I considered myself fully armed, with my brand new 6S iPhone, and my trusty dinosaur of a Canon (EOS20D) SLR. At the entrance to the museum there were rows of trees breaking the concrete American monotony I have become used to which provided esthetic support to the entertaining fountain show.

Of course once inside (with voluntary donation offered) I took the circuitous route and first found myself in the ‘permanent display’ of African Tribal Art. The lone 13^th century Djenne anthropomorphic male (H. 10 x W. 11 “) terracotta on display is pretty impressive.

[E1] Djenne terracotta – Metropolitan Museum of Art

“The first inhabitants of Djenné-Djono (a few kilometers from present-day Djenné) settled there as early as the 3rd century B.C.. The city of Djenné is built on an 88 hectare island between two branches of the Bani River, a tributary of the Niger”. [1] The town lies in the Inner Niger Delta area (a series of lakes, and floodplains located south of the Sahara desert), which is very different from the Niger delta which lies on the western border of Nigeria.

[E2] Djenne-map

I recall trying to explain my appreciation for this subset of African Terracotta artform to a friend, and failing miserably. On further thought I realize a large part of the problem was trying to map the artistic concepts of Rhythm and Motion to a sculptural tradition that beautifully explored more abstract ideas of Emotion, Pain, and Containment.

[E3] Djenne terracotta – Metropolitan Museum of Art

Another intriguing aspect of the sculpture is the unnatural flexibility of the subject, and the pattern of raised deformations on the back.

[E4] Djenne terracotta – Metropolitan Museum of Art

“The bodies sometimes show heavy scarifications, scabs, pustules, or blisters… perhaps due to filariose, a tropical and subtropical disease transmitted by mosquitos. The adult form is a white, thread-like worm which enters the human through the skin at night”. [1]

[1] http://www.memoiredafrique.com/en/djenne/histoire.php
[E1],[E3],[E4] photo credit aplusafricanart.com
[E2] http://www.memoiredafrique.com/en/djenne/histoire.php