In Focus

This exquisite sculpture depicts one of the most important imports—Equus caballus, the domestic horse. Introduced circa 1640-1532 BCE to ancient Egypt by western Asian conquerors, horses were initially used to draw chariots in military campaigns. Subsequently, horses were introduced to western Sudan (northern region of West Africa) via the Sahara Desert in about AD 1000 by Muslim Arab and Amazigh (also known as Berber) traders.

Musical instruments, when not sounding the call to war, were important objects that announced a ruler's arrival and entertained him or her with pleasing sounds. This richly hued ivory horn was made for a Mende paramount chief of Sierra Leone. It may predate British colonization and the introduction of staffs with a silver knob bearing the British coat of arms. 

The imagery carved on this horn is intriguing.

As a material, flint was valued by the Maya and other peoples of Mesoamerica for its ability to strike fire. The Maya associated flint with lightning and believed that where lightning struck, flint was formed. Flint seems to have been fairly accessible in the Maya area (southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador), but the finest quality is thought to have come from Belize.

Art makes a dramatic appearance at the funerals of important elders of Poro, an age-graded society that teaches boys their social, political, and spiritual roles as adult males. Masquerade costumes with fiber or wooden headpieces and carved wooden figures depicting a male and a female appear during funeral celebrations. Small figures are displayed on the ground or near the ground near the corpse, which is wrapped in layers of splendid. locally woven cloths. These cloths are gifts of condolence from the villagers.

Among the Baule people of central Côte d'Ivoire, barren women consult male or female diviners (komien), who become possessed by a nature spirit (asie usu) or by a Mbra (deity) during the diving ritual. To welcome the spirits and, thus, encourage them to speak, diviners beautify shrine rooms with decorations and sculptures. Baule clients may not look at these figures, which are usually concealed under white cloths.

Frederic Edwin Church's distribution of a broadside, likely written by himself and Louis Legrand Noble, was a key aspect to the original displays of The Icebergs. The text is divided into seven short passages that guide viewers into the painting's scenery, pointing out the mass, motion, colors, and optical effects of the berg. For the general public, the textual guide assisted their understanding of the other-worldly terrain.