African Royal Court Art

African Royal Court Art
Author: Michèle Coquet
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 189
Release: 1998-12-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780226115757

In this visually stunning work, anthropologist Michèle Coquet presents the power and the brilliance of African court arts. Grounding her analysis in the social and historical context of traditional royalty systems, Coquet examines the diverse roles played by artisans, nobles, and kings in the production and use of royal objects. From the precolonial kingdoms of the Edo and the Yoruba, the Ashanti and the Igbo, Coquet reconstructs from a comparativist view the essential cultural connections between art, representation, and the king. More than ornamentation, royal objects embodied the strength and status of African rulers. The gold-plated stools of the Ashanti, the delicately carved ivory bracelets of the Edo-these objects were meant not simply to adorn but to affirm and enhance the power and prestige of the wearer. Unlike the abstract style frequently seen in African ritual art, realism became manifest in courtly arts. Realism directly linked the symbolic value of the object-a portrait or relief-with the physical person of the king. The contours of the monarch's face, his political and military exploits rendered on palace walls, became visual histories, the work of art in essence corroborating the ruler's sovereign might. Richly illustrated and wonderfully detailed, Coquet's influential volume offers both a splendid visual presentation and an authoritative analysis of African royal arts. "[This] beautiful and exciting book emphasizes the skillful court art of the Benin, Dahomey, and the Kongo. A very interesting and unusual approach to the art of the continent that has been too easily situated 'outside of history.'"—Le Figaro

Royal Art of Benin

Royal Art of Benin
Author: Kate Ezra
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 346
Release: 1992
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0870996339

Tantalizing trivia. this Hitler, spoiling everything?"

The Art of Africa

The Art of Africa
Author: Christa Clarke
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2006
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1588391906

A CD-ROM and DVD set extracted from the 'The Art of Africa: A Resource for Educators.' The CD-ROM "contains a PDF of 'The Art of Africa: A Resource for Educators, ' which features forty traditional works of African art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It includes a brief overview of the Metropolitan's collection of African art; a short introduction and history of Africa; an explanation of the role of visual expression in the continent; descriptions of the featured works of art and background about the materials and techniques that were used to created them ... The DVD, 'Ci Wara Invocation, ' "presents the highlights of a dozen ci wara performances in Bamana communities in present-day Mali that were recorded by five different observers between 1970-2002. Among the Bamana, oral traditions credit a mythical being named Ci Wara, a divine being half mortal and half antelope, with the introduction of agriculture to the Bamana. The ci wara performances are part of biannual celebrations that either launch or conclude the farming season."--Container

Benin

Benin
Author: Kathleen Bickford Berzock
Publisher:
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2008
Genre: Art
ISBN:

In the late 15th century, the Kingdom of Benin (located in present-day southwestern Nigeria) established a mercantile relationship with Portugal, significantly increasing its wealth and might. Benin became a regional powerhouse and, under a long lineage of divine rulers, or obas, it wielded great economic and political influence. The obas also supported guilds of artists--chief among them brass casters and ivory carvers--whom they employed to produce objects that honored royal ancestors, recorded history, and glorified life at court. The sophisticated creations of Benin’s royal artists stand among the greatest works of African art. This stunning book features a selection of Benin’s extraordinary artworks that range from finely cast bronze figures, altar heads, and wall plaques to ivory tusks, pendants, and arm cuffs embellished in detailed bas relief. An insightful essay outlines the kingdom’s history and sheds light on these masterworks by describing their production and function in the context of the royal court.

The Royal Arts of Africa

The Royal Arts of Africa
Author: Suzanne P. Blier
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Total Pages: 272
Release: 1998-01
Genre: Africa, Sub-Saharan
ISBN: 9780134402079

For use in an undergraduate or graduate course in African Art; also suitable as a supplementary reading for art history surveys. Lavishly illustrated, this historically grounded text draws together key traditions from West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa to present an informative and captivating survey of the most important royal arts in the great sub-Saharan African kingdoms. Exploring the diverse ways that African rulers employed art and architecture to define individual and state identity, it provides an overview of the major themes in royal African art and discusses what these arts reveal about the nature of kingship.

Fragile Legacies

Fragile Legacies
Author: Amy J. Staples
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: HISTORY
ISBN: 9781907804991

Fragile Legacies showcases the extraordinary photographs of Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge (1911-1994), one of Nigeria's premier photographers and the first official photographer to the royal court of the Benin kingdom. Alonge's photographs document a half-century of the Benin palace and the rituals, pageantry, and regalia of the obas (kings), and provide rare insight into the early histories and practices of studio photography in West Africa. His insider status provides an important perspective for examining the transformations of Benin City during the early to mid-twentieth century. --Front flap.

Bamum

Bamum
Author: Christraud Geary
Publisher: 5Continents
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011-09-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9788874395736

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artists working for the royal court of Bamum, in Cameroon, created elaborate bead-covered thrones and stools, wooden sculptures, masks in human and animal form, architectural carvings, and fine objects in bronze, ivory, and clay. This book focuses on the history, iconography, and meaning of these royal arts and looks at Western collectors who were fascinated by King Ibrahim Njoya (ruled 1886/7 to 1931) and the splendor of the royal court. Visual and written sources--including testimony by King Njoya and his courtiers, and extensive archival records--cast light on the strategies of a monarch who allowed visitors to acquire these arts to enhance the kingdom's reputation in distant Europe. The history of Bamum arts thus offers unique perspectives on African creativity and ingenuity, and European ways of collecting.

Benin Kings and Rituals

Benin Kings and Rituals
Author: Barbara Plankensteiner
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2007
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9789053496268

Edited by Barbara Plakensteiner. Foreword by O.J. Eboreime.

Traditional African Art

Traditional African Art
Author: Avner Shakarov
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2015-07-06
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0786498749

The art of sub-Saharan Africa reveals the marvelous achievements of unknown artists over thousands of years. Their aesthetic ideal finds form in wood, ivory, fabric, bronze and iron. This illustrated study of traditional African art includes pieces from Western Sudan, the Congolese Basin, the Guinea coast, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and East and South Africa. Each piece is characterized by its own traditions and artistic forms. The earliest works date from the beginning of the first millennium, the most recent from the early 20th century. Unique and rare examples are documented, many heretofore virtually unknown.

Benin

Benin
Author: Barbara Plankensteiner
Publisher: 5Continents
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-11-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9788874394104

Explores the history, iconography, and function of pre-colonial Benin art, including color images of bronzes, ivories, and wood carvings