Royal Arts Of Africa: The Majesty of Form

Blier draws on a vast range of individual objects--crowns, masks, thrones and regalia, palace architecture, painting, textiles, body decoration, and jewelry--as well as archival photographs of art works in use in ceremonies and performances, to reveal the court-art traditions of Africa in all their living splendor. 206 illustrations, 140 in color. 8 plans. 6 maps. Bibliography, Glossary, and timeline.

INTRODUCTION Paradoxes of Rule

11

(32)

Surveying African Royal Art

11

(5)

African Courts and the Colonial Legacy: Buganda and Mangbetu

16

(8)

Studies in African Kingship

24

(2)

The Sacred King as Sinner King

26

(3)

The King as All-Knowing and the King as Fool

29

(3)

The Model King as an Idiom of Royal Imperfection

32

(2)

The Healing King as Sorcerer and Transsexual

34

(2)

The Progenitor King as Royal Appropriator

36

(7)

ONE The Benin Kingdom: Politics, Religion, and Natural Order

43

(36)

Dynastic Heads and Models of Status

43

(7)

Art and Architecture in the Reign of Ewuare

50

(5)

The Benin Palace Complex and Bird Imagery

55

(3)

Turret Pythons: Icons of Transition

58

(2)

Pillars of Brass: History and Ceremony in the Palace Plaques

60

(4)

Sixteenth-Century Ritual Gongs and the Art of Body Masking

64

(2)

Royal History and Ritual in the Reign of Esigic

66

(2)

The Royal Altar: The Art of Dynastic Display

68

(3)

Art in the Reign of Eresonyen

71

(8)

TWO Yoruba and Dahomey: Divine Authority and the Arts of Royal History

79

(46)

Yoruba Beadworking Arts: Dressing the King

79

(4)

Palaces and Royal Prerogative

83

(4)

Arts of Divination and the Fate of Kings and Commoners

87

(5)

Gods of Thunder and Twins

92

(2)

Masked Personifications of Royal Authority

94

(2)

Badges of Counter-Royal Authority

96

(2)

Dahomey: "Leopard" Rulers and the Arts of Dynastic History

98

(3)

Royal Ritual and Architectural Planning under King Agaja

101

(4)

King Tegbesu: Political and Ritual Organizer of the Court

105

(2)

The Artist King, Agonglo

107

(3)

King Guezo: Royal Usurper and Political Strategist

110

(2)

Dahomey's Lion King and Man of Iron: King Glele

112

(8)

The Final Years of Monarchy: Kings Gbehanzin and Agoli Agbo

120

(5)

THREE The Asante Kingdom: The Golden Ages of Ghana

125

(40)

The Capital's Architecture and the Construction of Status

125

(8)

The Role of River Gods in State Religion

133

(1)

The Golden Stool: Seating a Sacred King

133

(4)

Queen Mother Figures and the Power of Gender

137

(2)

Regalia and the Art of Display

139

(7)

The Art of Weighing and Storing Gold

146

(6)

Communicating Value with Cloth: Royal Textile Traditions

152

(3)

Funerary and Fertility Arts: Links between Past and Future

155

(7)

Popular Traditions: Drums and Banners

162

(3)

FOUR Cameroon Grasslands: Royal Art Patronage in Contexts of Change

165

(36)

King Njoya: Royal Visionary and Artistic Mentor

165

(4)

Thrones: "Richness of Beads"

169

(5)

A Bamum Dynastic Chronology

174

(2)

Palace Architecture: The Patterning of Space

176

(3)

Capitaline Plans, Social Spaces, and Spider Divination

179

(2)

Sculptural Programs and Court Society

181

(4)

Kings as Sculptors: Portraits of the Court

185

(4)

Motherhood, Vessels, and Ideas of Royal Fecundity

189

(1)

Court Masquerades: Extending Royal Power through Performance

190

(3)

Ndop Cloth: Festival Textiles

193

(3)

Artists' Workshops and the Art of Drinking Palm Wine

196

(5)

FIVE Kongo and Kuba: The Art of Rulership Display

201

(48)

The Kongo Kingdom

201

(28)

The Architecture of the Capital: Framing Time and Place

202

(2)

Kongo Kings as Leopards: Rulers of the Forest

204

(3)

Early Missionary Contacts: Kongo Crosses and Saint Figures

207

(4)

The Language of Royal Knife Scepters and Vessels

211

(1)

Ancestral Music and Horns of Ivory

211

(3)

Textile Arts and Themes of Transition

214

(2)

Royal Mannequins and Memorials to the Dead

216

(4)

Portraits of Royal Women in Stone and Wood

220

(2)

Arts of Power, Protection, and Popular Response

222

(7)

The Kuba Kingdom

229

(20)

Competing for Status in Courtly Art

229

(2)

Kuba Artist Kings: Expressions in Iron and Costume

231

(1)

Dynastic Myths and the Symbolism of Thrones

232

(1)

Royal Portrait Sculptures

233

(3)

Initiation and Funerals: The Kuba Art of Dynastic Masking

236

(5)

Royal Divination Arts: Communicating Nature's Insights

241

(1)

The Architecture of Weaving: Palaces and Spatial Patterns

242

(7)

CONCLUSION The Continuing Vitality of Africa's Courtly Arts

249

(3)

TIMELINE

252

(8)

GLOSSARY

260

(1)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

261

(5)

PICTURE CREDITS

266

(2)

INDEX

268

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Royal Arts Of Africa: The Majesty of Form (Perspectives), The (Trade Version)

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