tour 2 of 15
Views from Africa
Ivory salt cellar with boat
This salt cellar is made of ivory and shows
Europeans with long hair, beards and hooked noses. Objects of this
type were perhaps the first known examples of 'tourist
art' from Africa: luxury items made as souvenirs for
foreigners.
Africans along
the continent's west coast first encountered Portuguese
traders in the mid-fifteenth century. This marked the beginning of
regular contact and trade, and the principal interest of the
Europeans was the purchase of carved ivory items. Although ivory
carvings were traditionally produced only for the royal court in
the city of Benin, the ruling Oba (king) allowed decorated salt
cellars, horns, spoons and forks to be made for European
visitors.