Tusk
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1860
name: label: Maker
content: Kongo artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: This ivory tusk, possibly dating to the late 19th century, is an unusually fine example of an important tradition of export art. It was carved by an artist who lived along the Loango coast in the Congo region. Almost certainly using iron tools, he rendered with exquisite detail and lively animation a series of pictorial sequences in relief that spiral the length of the tusk. Figures in the scenes depict everyday Loango life as experienced by coastal peoples during the latter half of the 19th century.
label: Label Text
content: The scenes are separate vignettes and not meant to be read as a continuous story. Among the important representations on the tusk are (from the bottom): an individual in a medallion who wears a hat and cape decorated with diamond-shaped motifs; a sacrifice; a procession of chained figures; a Kongo ritual specialist in full regalia; a coastal trading house; a European trading ship; a man attacked by an elephant; a woman carrying a child and goods while a monkey tries to lift her wrapper; and a woman nursing a child.
label: Label Text
content: Certain motifs and details of the horn combined with its narrative composition point toward an interpretation that is linked to Kongo notions of death and the afterlife.
label: Label Text
content: The earlier tradition of nonfigurative Kongo ivory horns carved and played in Kongo courts can be compared with the later figurative Kongo ivory horns carved for export to Europe. The spiral form is an important compositional device found on horns from both traditions. In the former it has been speculated that the open spiral compositional lines allude to the path the dead follow from earth to the ancestral realm and back again as newborns. In the latter it has been suggested that the parade of figures symbolizes the long winding procession followed by both the living and the dead as they climb from the ocean to the mountains leading to the Kongo capital and the home of the ancestors.
label: Description
content: Ivory tusk with relief carving arranged in eight registers and a nursing woman with child carved on top.
label: Provenance
content: Private collection, Scotland, -- to 1996
label: Provenance
content: Michael Graham-Stewart, London, 1996
label: Exhibition History
content: African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (installed June 20, 2017 to August 12, 2019)
label: Exhibition History
content: Treasures 2008, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 9-August 24, 2008
label: Exhibition History
content: BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
label: Exhibition History
content: Captive Passages: The Atlantic Slave Trade and the Making of the Americas, Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia, April 6, 2002-January 5, 2003; Anacostia Community Museum, Washington D.C., February 2-August 21, 2003; South Street Seaport Museum, New York, October 1, 2003-February 15, 2004
label: Exhibition History
content: A Spiral of History, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 1-April 26, 1998
label: Published References
content: Hornbeck, Stephanie. 2016. "Ivory: I dentification and Regulation of a Precious Material." National Museum of African Art Conservation Lab publication. p.9.
label: Published References
content: Mellor, S. 2007. From Delicious to Not Quite Right: Subtleties in Discerning the Authenticity of African Art. Objects Specialty Group Postprints, Volume 14 CD. Washington, DC: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, p.27, no.31.
label: Published References
content: National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 109, no. 75.
label: Published References
content: National Museum of African Art. 2006. BIG/small Family Guide. Exhibition booklet. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
label: Published References
content: Nicolls, Andrea. 1998. A Spiral of History: A Carved Tusk from the Loango Coast. Exhibition brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
label: Published References
content: Patton, Sharon F. and Bryna Freyer. 2008. Treasures 2008. Washington D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 16-17.
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Loango Coast, Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
label: Geography
content: Cabinda Province, Angola
topic: label: Topic
content: elephant
label: Topic
content: crocodile
label: Topic
content: mother and child
label: Topic
content: foreigner
label: Topic
content: weapon
label: Topic
content: boat
label: Topic
content: bushcow
label: Topic
content: male
label: Topic
content: Trade
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Museum purchase
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 96-28-1
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ivory
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x Diameter: 72.4 x 14.6 x 6 cm (28 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.)