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

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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







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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