ANIMALS AND VIOLENCE Unlike scenes of slavery, representations of animals sculpted on tusks are rooted in traditional Congolese art. What is most striking is the limited number of species that are depicted in Loango sculpture relative to the huge number that exist in the Congo region. The animal most frequently seen on tusks is the snake, often expressed by a spiral pattern. It is a symbol of eternity because it appears to be reborn each time it sheds its skin and thus is destined for immortality. In Congolese religion, the serpent is continually in contact with both the past and the present and, by extension, with the realm of the ancestors as well as that of the living. The Tabwa, for example, associate large snakes with earth spirits, which, under the right conditions, can allow access to the riches of nature. The snake seen wrapped from bottom to top of many Congolese scepters offers its owner direct access to the unknown forces hidden within the earth (Roberts, 1995: 62–63). Loango ivories often depict scenes of men in confrontation with animals, most often snakes, elephants, and crocodiles (figs. 21 and 22). A possible explanation for these scenes—which probably show hunting— may be based less in Congolese cosmology but rather in popular images of Africa published in Western media. Books by explorers and travel accounts in newspapers were often abundantly illustrated with captions such as “hunt for big game” and told of the immense dangers the hero had exposed himself to, such as the “ferocious attacks of wild animals” that he barely survived. Scenes on tusks also often depict rescue, with a second person armed with a spear or a weapon close by. If one believes the assertions of the eyewitness cited by Bridges (2009: 5–6), who states that the ivory workshops were full of illustrations, it could well be supposed that the sculptors were aware of illustrations such as these. The symbols associated with these animals also make another explanation plausible. An example may be illustrated by a tusk in the Tropenmuseum that shows a detailed scene in which a man is being attacked by a crocodile (fig. 22). The latter is shown clamping its jaws down on the man’s right leg while tearing at his left thigh with its front paw and at his throat with its hind paw. On the left, a man with a raised spear is seen attacking the crocodile. In the Congo, the crocodile symbolizes death, but this crocodile could also be a simbi, a dangerous spirit that lives in the rivers. In Kongo mythology, these crocodiles could kidnap people along riverbanks and sell them as slaves. Given the slavery scene that follows the one of the attack, this could very well be a representation of one of these simbi. The fact that the victim is seen biting the crocodile on the tail may be an indication that the man is not allowing himself to be easily taken. As a whole, the depiction is a magnificent symbol—albeit probably unintentional—of the relationship between the people of the Lower Congo and the European merchants. STORIES IN IVORY
Layout1
To see the actual publication please follow the link above