Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
African Metalwork
and Currency
Exhibition Credits
Gallery Assistants
Benjamin Tyson
Shawayna Teal
Catalog Credits
Front Cover:Verre Throwing Knife Currency, Iron; Northern Nigeria;
Pre-1900; H: 18
Back Cover: Spiral Copper Currency, Eastern Nigeria; Pre-1900; H: 6.5
Curators Statement:Eric D. Robertson
Photography:Lonnie Graham
Design and Layout:Kathy Johnson and Lonnie Graham
Editor:N.Y.Nathiri
MUSEUM SPONSOR
The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.)
was incorporated in 1988 as a non-profit/tax-exempt historic preservation organization and presents year-round, multidisciplinary
arts and humanities programs. P.E.C.s mission is to enhance the
considerable cultural resources of Eatonville, Florida, which is the
oldest incorporated African American municipality in the United
States and the hometown of writer, folklorist, and anthropologist
Zora Neale Hurston; to educate the public about Eatonvilles historic
and cultural significance; and to use the communitys heritage and
cultural vibrancy for its economic development.
Copyright 2007. The Association to Preserve the EatonvilleCommunity,
Inc. No part of this catalog may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Since the Legends Exhibition Series, October 1998August 1999, when
guest curator Dr. M.J. Hewitt presented the work of Samella Lewis, the
late John Biggers, ElizabethCatlett, and William Pajaud, the Zora Neale
Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts (The Hurston) has enjoyed a
particularly privileged position within the museum world. Housed in
a small community of barely 3,000 persons, The Hurston has been able
to exhibit consistently the work of some of the countrys most distinguished artists and collectors.
This is no mean feat; and in fact it is something that would have
been impossible to achieve had it not been for the collaboration of committed artists, cultural preservationists, museum professionals, and
just plain folks.
The Art of Money African Metalwork and Currency is a testament to
the power such partnerships possess.
Our first expression of appreciation must go to Eric D. Robertson
(Robertson African Arts, New YorkCity). Upon being introduced to
our organization by Dr. Richard A. Long, senior member of the Zora
Neale Hurston Festival National Planners and Professor Emeritus
(Emory University), Robertson, internationally recognized for his extensive knowledge of African art, agreed to serve as our guest curator.
Subsequently, he has assembled three exhibitions with a focus on African
material culture. In every instance, his care and commitment have
only been surpassed by the generosity of his loans. Yet, with The Art of
Money, Robertson has exceeded himself. Truly, we are grateful to him for
enabling us to present this one-of-a-kind collection to our visitors.
Activities at the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts are sponsored, in part, by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural
Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About theCurator
Eric D. Robertson holds
Doctor)
from
populations.
law
degrees
University
national museums.
Africana
Studies
CURATORS STATEMENT
Standing on the banks of the sacred
58 Azande Blade
Currency, Iron; Dem.
Rep. of Congo; Pre-1900;
H: 25.5
implements (#17), jewelry (#44, #51, #55, and #56), and musical instruments
trate the ingenuity of cultures that created these precious objects. Currency
(#28), that were long recognized as trade items in traditional African cultures.
ranged in forms from cowrie shells to blocks of salt to iron poles. Mungo Park,
the Scotsman who explored the course of the Niger River starting in 1795, in
and use of these objects and a functional understanding of the history and
his journals stated, the natives of the interior make use of small shells called
In the Zora Neale Hurston Museums exhibition, The Art of Money African
(Mali), where the necessaries of the life are very cheap, one hundred of them
would commonly purchase a days provisions for myself and corn for my
of currencies, which differ in shape, weight, and appearance and which illus-
horse.2 Traders would carry thousands of these imported Indian Ocean shells
2 Cowrie Shells:
(a) Yoruba Ibeji Cape; Nigeria; H: 8
18 Hoe Currency:
(a) Iron; Upper Volta,
Mossi area; Pre-1900;
H: 16
21 Four Small Hoe Currency, Iron; Northern Nigeria; Pre-1900; H: 6.5 (largest)
(see #3), stone axe heads (see #12), and copper alloy
cultures (see #4, #8, and #9). Gold nuggets were also
11 Akan Gold Weights and Akan Gold Dust Boxes, Bronze; Ghana; Early Period; L: 2.45
(largest)
10
5 Katanga X Shaped Currency, Copper; Dem. Rep. of Congo; c. 16th century; H: 1.5 (largest)
17
centuries, millions of
th
and 18
th
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank N.Y. Nathiri for her continual
efforts in promoting our understanding of the
arts and culture of Africa and the Diaspora;
and Dr. Paulette Young for her organizational
skills, research and contributions to the catalogs essay. I also want to recognize Barbara
Fenig, my intern, for her perseverance in
conducting the research associated with this
exhibition and for the excellent job she did in
the preparation of the objects for cataloging.
Eric Robertson, New York, May 2007
12
ENDNOTES
Dent & Sons, Ltd. and New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1960 [1907,
1954], 19.
2
Park, 153.
Park, 19
Denis Williams, Icon and Image: A Study of Sacred and Secular Forms of
African Classical Art. New York: New York University Press, 1974, 71.
5
Williams, 71
Williams, 73
13
Selective Bibliography
Blandin, Andr. Fer Noir dAfrique de lOuest: avec 40 pages de complment sur les Bronzes et Autres Allianges. Marignane (France):
A. Blandin. 1992.
Bovill, Edward William. The Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century. Princeton, New Jersey: Markus Wiener
Publishers, 1995.
Brincard, Marie-Therese, ed. The Art of Metal in Africa. (Exhibition and catalog). Translations and additional research by Evelyn Fischel. New
York: African-American Institute. 1982.
Eyo, Ekpo. Nigeria and the Evolution of Money. Lagos, Nigeria: Central Bank of Nigeria, 1979.
Herbert, Eugenia W. Iron, Gender, and Power: Rituals of transformations in African societies. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1993.
Kriger, Colleen E. Pride of Men: Iron working in 19th century. In West Central Africa. Social History of Africa. Portsmouth, New Hampshire:
Heinemann, 1999.
*McNaughton, Patrick R. The Mande Blacksmiths: Knowledge, Power, and Art in West Africa, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University
Press, 1988.
Museum of American Financial History. The Artistry of African Currency. (Exhibition and catalog). New York: Museum of American Financial
History. 2001
*Park, Mungo. The Travels of Mungo Park, edited by Ronald Miller. Everymans Library, No. 205, Travel & Topography. London: J.M. Dent & Sons,
Ltd. and New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1960 [1907, 1954].
Schaedler, Karl-Ferdinand, et. al. Earth and Ore: 2,500 years of African art in terra cotta and metal. Kurasburg: Edition Minerva; Mnchen: Distributed
by Panterra Verlag, 1997.
*Westerdijk, Peter. The African Throwing Knife: A Style Analysis. Utrecht, The Netherlands: OMI, University of the Netherlands, 1988
*Williams, Denis. Icon and Image: A Study of Sacred and Secular Forms of African Classical Art. New York: New York University Press, 1974.
Zaslavsky, Claudia. Africa Counts: Number and Patterns in African Culture. (3rd Edition) Westport, Connecticut: Lawrence Hill & Co., 1999.
14
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
1. Four Strands of Old Beads
(a) Nok Stone Beads, cornelian color; collected in Nigeria; c. 5th century
BCE; L: 14
(b) Hebron Glass Beads, green color; collected in Sudan; c. 15th century; L: 14
(c) Chevron Glass Beads (Aggrey Beads), blue, black,
red, white; Dutch; collected in Dem. Rep. of Congo; c. 17th
century; L: 12
(d) Yoruba Glass Beads, yellow; European origin; 18th/19th
century; L: 17
2. Cowrie Shells:
21. Four Small Hoe Currency, Iron; Northern Nigeria; Pre-1900; H: 6.5
(largest)
22. Hoe Currency, Iron; Northern Nigeria; Pre-1900; H: 10
23. Two Chamba/Idoma Hoe Currency, Iron; Nigeria; Pre-1900; H: 31
(largest)
24. Keaka Hoe Currency, Iron; Western Cameroon; Pre-1900; H: 16.5
25. Mambila Hoe Currency, Iron; Western Cameroon; Pre-1900; H: 26.25
26. Ngbaka Hoe Currency, Iron; Northern Dem. Rep. of Congo; Pre-1900;
H: 19
27. (a) Chamba Hoe Currency, Iron; Northern Nigeria; Pre-1900; H: 14
(b) Sudan/Uganda Hoe Currency, Iron; Pre-1900; H:10.5
28. Double Bell Currency, Iron; Northern Nigeria/Western Cameroon;
Pre-1900; H: 12
29. Spiral Loop Currency, Iron; Northern Nigeria, possibly Chamba;
Pre-1900; H: 6
15
16
Members
Lonnie C. Bell
James M. Lewis
Reginald B. McGill
Ernestine E. McWhite
Clarence Otis, Jr.
Jan E. Wilson, Esq.
P.E.C.STAFF
N.Y. Nathiri, Executive Director
Eric Robertson, Guest Curator
Rosalyn F. K. Castile, ZORA! Festival Logistics Coordinator
Shelly McKinney, Finance and Accounting Assistant
Shawayna Teal, Administrative Support
Excellence Without Excuse (E-WE) Computer Arts Lab & Learning Center*
Alice M. Grant, Manager
Daisy S. Willis, Teacher
Bruce E. Bouler, Technician
Cyria Underwood, Clerical and Computer Assistant
*Major funding provided by Orange County Citizens Commission for Children
MUSEUM VOLUNTEERS
Museum Assistants
Museum Support
Hospitality Committee
Maxine Hixon
Dorothy Shabazz
Jane Turner
Louise Franklin
Ann Hill
Evelyn Nash
Maye St. Julien