DALLAS ART MUSEUM 87 FIG. 17 (right): Headcrest, attributed to Asikpo Edet Okun of Ibonda. Efut, Cross River region, Nigeria. Late 19th–early 20th century. Covered in red duiker (Cephalophus natalensis) hide. H: 68 cm. Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., inv. 2014.4.2.McD. FIG. 14 (below): Gunpowder container. Tshokwe, Angola. 19th–20th century. Wood. H: 21.6 cm. Dallas Museum of Art, The Clark and Frances Stillman Collection of Congo Sculpture, gift of Eugene and Margaret McDermott, inv. 1969.S.39.a–b. Impact of Trade For centuries African trade goods—pepper, ivory, animal hides, wax, amber, indigo, textiles, gold, and slaves— were exchanged for European horses, silk, copper, brass, clothing, beads, tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. African elites were the first to be exposed to foreign goods and materials, which often became part of their regalia. Expensive to obtain, such objects added prestige and value to African emblems of status and ritual objects. Prominent in this section are a Pende beaded chief’s bicorn hat, a Tshokwe carved wood container for gunpowder (fig. 14), a carved ivory tusk from the Loango coast with images of foreign and African traders along the “coil of life” (fig. 15), a selection of Ethiopian Coptic crosses carved or cast between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries (fig. 16), and satirical images of Muslims and Christians rendered according to traditional African aesthetics. Masks Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the masquerade is an ancient, highly developed, and enduring art form. To FIG. 15 (left): Tusk with multiple scenes in relief. Kongo, DR Congo. 19th–20th century. Ivory. L: 28.3 cm. Dallas Museum of Art, The Clark and Frances Stillman Collection of Congo Sculpture, gift of Eugene and Margaret McDermott, inv. 1969.S.42. FIG. 16 (right): Processional cross. Ethiopia. Probably 18th– 20th century. Silver. H: 44. 5 cm. Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Hebe Redden and Dr. Kenneth Redden, inv. 1991.352.39.
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