tour 14 of 15
Views from Africa
Wooden male and female figures
This pair of figures, one male and one female,
are carved in the style used by the central Nyamwezi people. The
Nyamwezi are a large, Bantu-speaking ethnic group who live
primarily in Tanzania, south of Lake Victoria. The figures have
long, slender limbs and serene facial expressions and their
clothing and hairstyles can be dated to the 1940s or 50s. The
source of inspiration for their creation is unknown: were they
carved for sale to Europeans or for the local market? Are there
elements of parody in the stylized figures, or are they simply
city-dwelling Africans in European
dress?
In the nineteenth
century the Nyamwezi acted as middlemen in the lucrative ivory and
slave trade that ran between the Congo (modern Democratic Republic
of Congo) and the Swahili coastal towns in Tanzania and on Zanzibar
Island. These trade routes generated a highly mobile population of
craftsmen, traders, slaves and intermediaries. As a result, the
Nyamwezi settled in a wide range of communities in south-eastern
Congo, Zambia and Ukerewe Island in Lake
Victoria.
Unlike many other
East African groups the Nyamwezi had an already established
tradition of figurative carving, most notably of ancestor figures,
which they continued to pursue in their new environments. It is
possible that the rich variety of influences that the Nyamwezi
experienced as intermediaries along the trade routes provided the
stimulation for these figures.