kongo and kuba: the art of rulership display · arthist 345-01/aaas 348-01/ics 223-01/african art:...

ARTHIST 345-01/AAAS 348-01/ICS 223-01/AFRICAN ART: FROM ROYAL COURT TO CONTEMPORARY MARKETPLACE

Kongo and Kuba: The Art of Rulership Display

Monday, March 30

Map of the Kongo Kingdom

Mbanza Kongo (Salvador, Angola), from Olfert Dapper’s Description of Africa, 1688.

Above left: L. Degrandpré, The house & funeral of the court minister of commerce, the Ma-Kayi, of Cabinda, c. 1787. Below left: Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi, After being denied a chair by the Portuguese governor, Queen Nzinga Mbundu sits on the back of her attendant, 1690. Engraving.

Yombe peoples, Democratic Republic of Congo, Royal scepter, 19th century. Ivory.

Above left: Kongo Kingdom, Democratic Republic of Congo/Angola, Royal hat (mpu), before 1674. Woven grass & fiber. Below left: Kongo Kingdom, Democratic Republic of Congo/Angola, Royal apron, before 1674. Woven grass & fiber.

Above & below left: renderings of the Kongo cosmogram.

Kongo Kingdom, Democratic Republic of Congo, Funeral cylinder (diboondo), 19th

century. Terracotta.

Left: Kongo Kingdom, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guardian figure (tomba, ntadi), 19th century. Steatite. Right: Yombe peoples, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mother & child statue, 19th century. Wood & mixed media.

Above: Photograph of a Bwende funerary mannequin (niombo) during a public ceremony, early 20th century. Right: Bwende, Democratic Republic of Congo, Funerary mannequin (niombo), early 20th century. Cloth, pigment, soil, human remains.

Left: Yombe peoples, Democratic Republic of Congo, Power figure (nkisi nkondi), 1905. Wood, metal, glass, & mixed media. Above: Vili peoples, Angola/Democratic Republic of Congo, Double-headed power figure of dog (nkondi), before 1912. Wood, iron & mixed media.

Map of Central Africa, 17th century CE.

Above: Kuba Kingdom ruler (Nyim) Mbop Mabiinc maKyen (ruled 1939-1969). Right: Kuba Kingdom ruler (Nyim) Kot a MbWeeky III (ruled 1969-the present). Photographs by Eliot Elisofon.

Kuba-Bushoong Kingdom, Democratic Republic of Congo, Royal portrait figure (ndop), late 18th century. Wood.

Clockwise from above: Kuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Female mask (Ngady aMwaash), 19th century. Wood, pigments, beads, cowrie shells & fiber. Kuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Royal mask (Mbwoom), late 19th – early 20th century. Wood, shells, beads. Kuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Royal Elephant mask (Mwaash aMbooy), 20th century. Mixed media.

Clockwise from above right: Ngombe peoples, Democratic Republic of Congo, Reclining chair, early 20th century. Wood, brass tacks. Pierre Legrain, Study for a stool, 1920. Watercolor on paper. Pende peoples, Democratic Republic of Congo, Hat, early 20th

century. Twine, cowrie shells. Man Ray, Mode au Congo, 1937. Gelatin silver print.