Object Notes

Life on the Loango Coast in the late 19th century is recorded on a spiral that winds around this tusk from the base to the tip. Rendered naturalistically, the figures include men in wrapper skirts, some with European-style jackets and hats; a caravan of porters carrying loads on their heads; a man carried in a hammock; African captives in chains; and a bald man at the top.

Sharp-angled sickle-shaped knives with two or three holes and a hilt made of brass, wood, iron or ivory—like this one—were prestige objects made for Mangbetu kings and important men. They were held in the hand during visits, palavers, and ceremonials, as much for display as to be readily available, if needed. A blacksmith made the blade and a sculptor carved the hilt.

The handle of this knife (sape) is carved in the form of a woman's head with the distinctive Mangbetu royal women's hairstyle. Creating the hairstyle involved wrapping a woman's elongated forehead—which had been reshaped in infancy—with string and drawing her long hair around a basketry frame to create a halo effect.

The whistle is carved in the form of a human bust. The hole bored through the neck suggests the whistle was probably a pendant on a fiber cord necklace. A musician played it by blowing across the opening opposite the head and modulating the tone by opening and closing the hold in the side extensions.