african portraiture a commentary
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African Portraiture: A CommentaryAuthor(s): Jean M. BorgattiSource: African Arts, Vol. 23, No. 4, Special Issue: Portraiture in Africa, Part II (Oct., 1990),pp. 38-41+93
Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies CenterStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3336942 .
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prising that visual (sculpted) descriptions should follow a sim-
ilar pattern. Nor is it surprising that what an outsider perceivesas a generalized image is relatively more representational to a
specific audience-given the importance of social identity, the
small scale of communities, the face-to-face nature of commu-
nication, and a preference for the ideal. Certainly, Robert Brain
argues for an element of likeness in Bangwa sculpture (1971;
1980), or at least for the presence of the objectas a model in cer-
tain instances (1977).
In "The Odyssey of the Afo-A-Kom" (p. 62), EugeniaShanklin notes a marked resemblance between this sculptureand its probable subject, Fon Yuh (reigned 1865-1912), whose
photograph is one of the earliest extant European images of aKom leader. At the same time, Shanklin notes the temperingeffects of aesthetic and symbolic considerations on likeness
(alteration of relative body size in male and female sculpture,distortion of the ears, and numerology). As Harter has noted in
the Bangwa context, an individual artist's style can smooth out
differences as well and create a relationship between figures
independent of their respective subjects' actual appearance.
According to Marla Berns in "Pots as People: YungurAncestral Portraits"(July 1990 issue, p. 50), the portrait potteryof the Yungur of Nigeria goes beyond likeness. She describes
Yungur commemorative pots as active agents, not passive rep-resentations. Portrait pottery reinforces social processes and
strategies
that not
only
maintain the dominance of certain lin-
eages but facilitate the continuity of life itself.
Berns argues for a link between person and pot established
by name, and goes on to suggest that Yungur portraits present a
more sophisticated metaphor for the individual than images
bearing a superficial likeness to the subject-their specificity or
individuality indicated by the variation of the pots' facial fea-
tures (the very elements of human appearance that best distin-
guish one person from another). Moreover, clusters of traits
show that pots belong to specific lineages and localities-varia-
tion driven by a sculptural code rather than subjects' physical
appearance.African art, like African languages, functions with a large
measure of economy. Form and meaning are often context
dependent. George Preston notes that descriptors are dropped,not added, for verbal emphasis. When the Akan refer to a
beautiful face, they simply say that the person in question "has
a face." Similarly, a literally descriptive portrait may detract
from the stature of the subject. It may lack emphasis.
According to anthropologist Eberhard Fischer, literal descrip-tion trivializes the image in the context of Dan carving(1963:209-10, cited in Willett 1971:211-12). That the portraitexists and carries the appropriate emblems of social identity is
sufficient. The portrait itself stands as a testament to the impor-tance of its subject, referencing an individual who has achieved
a level of status in the community as well as a more generalideal of comportment.
Preston makes this clear in his discussion of Akan terracot-
ta portraits, "People Making Portraits Making People: LivingIcons of the Akan" (July issue, p. 70). The oval shape of the
head, the high, broad forehead, the regular features, and the
composed, remote expression of the face that are characteris-
tic of memorial sculpture represent standards of physical
beauty and comportment that royal individuals achieve
through the conscious manipulation of the body in infancyand through subsequent schooling. Individual personality is
intentionally masked, and the subject himself presents the
artist with an idealized image that is then perpetuated, per-
haps dramatized, in terracotta form to reinforce royal status
and royal roles.In her essay "Obas' Portraits in Benin" (July issue, p. 61),
Barbara Blackmun focuses on the importance of portraits in
preserving historical memory, a constant preoccupation in
Benin evident not only in sculpture and such expressiveforms as song, dance, and ceremony, but also in names,
modes of conversation, and symbolic detail in clothing and
jewelry. As Preston argues that Akan memorial portraits are
more concerned with the iconic than the personal, so does
Blackmun suggest that Edo royal portraits are more con-
cerned with Edo historiography than Edo personality. The
images are highly conventionalized, with emphasis on sym-bolic markers that carry information or evoke a specific his-
torical event for which a narrative exists. Blackmun's
analysisof the imagery and its use clearly demonstrates that royal
portraits support dynastic interests and help legitimize the
rule of the current king.In "King Glele of Danhome: Divination Portraits of a Lion
King and Man of Iron"(p. 42), Suzanne Blier develops the link
between word and image in the royal art of Danhome. She
argues that the images used to portray Glele, his mission and
his accomplishments, derive from his divination sign-an inte-
gral part of his personal identity-and the body of literature
associated with it. Images, depicted singly or loosely associat-
ed in cryptic groups, recall historical events or suggest person-
ality and individual destiny to a knowledgeable audience (see
Borgatti 1990:68-70).
Glele may be the best-represented king in the Danhomeancorpus because of his place in Danhomean history. The powerof the kingdom peaked under his rule. His reign predated the
colonial period and the political undermining of individual
rulers by the French, yet was well documented by Europeanvisitors. Moreover, Glele rebuilt the royal treasury, commis-
sioning many works to replace those destroyed by fire in a
protest over his succession. Thus images associated with his
reign (1858-1889) dominate Danhomean royal art as we know
it. It will be interesting to see if sufficient data exist to allow
Blier to interpret the identity of other kings, using the model
developed in relation to Glele-for her analysis clearly reveals
the multiplicity of interpretations that Danhomean art allows.
40
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OKPELLADEAD FATHERMASQUERADE
COMMEMORATING GIE EOE.
OGIRIGA,NIGERIA.PHOTO: 1973.
While this quality is characteristic of much African art, it is
raised to a particular power in Danhomean culture because of
the interest in indirection and puns.In looking at the link between person and image in
"Portraiture among the Lagoon Peoples of Cote d'Ivoire" (p.54), Monica Visona stresses the flexibility of meaning that
Lagoon portraits share, for classic and interchangeable forms
are used to portray individual diviners, deceased twins, and
"otherworld" characters (spirits). Figural sculptures depictingtalented dancers change their identities over time. Layers of
meaning inform portraits of ancestors appearing on Lagoon
regalia, particularly the traditional gold ornaments portrayingthe face of the man who commissioned the casting. Such goldornaments may be interpreted variously as representing
founding ancestors, slain enemies, or beheaded slaves. Context
and association, rather than form, determine identity.The irrelevance of representational likeness becomes
startlingly clear in the contemporary use of life-sized, natural-
istic wooden sculpture dressed and ornamented to representindividuals. The logic that allows a flexible interpretation of a
generalized image stretches to inform the highly representa-tional one as well, for despite their naturalism, the sculpturesbear no physical resemblance to their subjects. They may even
represent an individual of a different gender-as happens
among the Okpella who today use a popular female mask-type
instead of the traditional "ghost form" to,represent a "deadfather" (Borgatti 1990b:35, fig. 2).
Representational naturalism does carry an important mes-
sage about identity in Africa, however, even if it is not about
the actual demeanor and personality of a portrait's subject.Naturalistic representation is a style associated with Western
culture. Its use suggests a cosmopolitan, modern outlook on
the part of an individual portrayed, and it also signifies his
Christianity, at least in the Yoruba context, according to
Margaret Drewal.
In her essay, "Portraitureand the Construction of Reality in
Yorubaland and Beyond" (July issue, p. 40), Drewal ranges
widely and imaginatively over Yoruba portrait forms, and if
she strays somewhat from the definition of a portrait as a rep-
resentation of a person who once lived, she does so to help usquestion not only the definition of portrait in Yoruba cultural
terms but the definition of reality. Whether or not one acceptsthe works she posits as portraits (from a house that is highly
idiosyncratic to a throne in which is embedded a photographof its owner), one agrees that her comments are always perti-nent and thought provoking, both for Yoruba art in particularand for African art in general.
The scale of Yoruba culture, the specialization of form, the
degree to which ideas are articulated, and the depth of Yoruba
scholarship make understanding Yoruba concepts germane to
understanding comparable concepts across African cultures.
For example, Drewal's complex analysis of Yoruba commemo-
PHOTO: JEAN M. BORGATTI
rative masquerades helps us to see the logic underlying theirnonanthropomorphic, nonrepresentational imagery. She sug-
gests that their form and movement, the texture and surface
qualities of the fabric used, combine to portray a spiritual side
of humanity, a side not normally visible. This meaning lends
immediate insight into the use of the "ghost form" or "cloth
sack" to depict individual ancestors elsewhere in Nigeria,
among the Okpella and other northern Edo groups, for exam-
ple (Borgatti 1990a:71-73).
As a group, the eight essays and two research notes (byRobert Soppelsa in the July issue, p. 77, and by RaymondSilverman in this issue, p. 78) reveal the wonderful varietyand subtlety that characterize the portrait mode in sub-
Saharan Africa. At the same time, a clear viewpoint emerges
from this diversity. Representational likeness is less importantas a measure of identification than other criteria, notablyname and context (broadly interpreted to include siting as
well as personal artifacts associated with the subject). For this
reason, African portraits appear to be less personal than their
Western counterparts. They seem less personal to us because
they stress social rather than individual identity; that is, rep-resentation of the subject is correct rather than idiosyncratic.At the same time, they seem more personal than m'anyWestern portraits because recognition of the subject's identity
depends upon a knowledge of the individual portrayed and
community values. [
Referencesited,page93
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