Makonde chess sets are made by the Makonde people of southwest Tanzania and Mozambique, carved in the Makonde's distinctive style. Chess sets were originally made for export to Europe but the pattern of the pieces follows traditional Makonde designs rather than any established chess pattern.
The European market for Makonde art developed from the 1930s through Portuguese colonization. [1] Chess sets were first exported by Norman Kirk, a New Zealander who owned a lime and cashew nut plantation in Tanzania (then Tanganyika). Kirk had been impressed by the work of the Makonde artist Likenikeni Sabini after visiting his workshop at Ndanda mission in the 1950s. After this visit he began buying and exporting Makonde art to Europe. Kirk enticed Sabini to come and work for him at his plantation where Sabini trained other carvers for Kirk. At some point Kirk initiated production of chess sets and the product became popular in the 1960s. The pieces in the chess set were based on the chidiu, a traditional bottle stopper. This took the form of a human head with Makonde facial scarification. [2]
After Kirk's death in 1969 a group of carvers who had formerly supplied Kirk continued to carve chess sets. This group was centred on the village of Ziwani near Mtwara. Several new themes were developed by this group including the seated smoker set, the drummer set, and the bird set. Scarification marks tend to be omitted on modern pieces. [3]
The king (bulisa [4] ), as the tallest piece, has a very tall African tribal hat worn by tribal chiefs. Alternatively, the hat may be a fez of the type formerly worn by colonial police and soldiers. The king always has this hat even in sets which do not take human form. The queen, as representative of women (nkongwe [4] ), carries a water pot on her head which is the custom in rural Africa. The knight is in the style of a giraffe (twiga [4] ); horses were unknown to the tribe as they cannot survive in this part of Africa because of the tsetse fly. Among the best of Makonde skills are carvings of animals. As there were no castles in Makonde territory, they designed the rook in the shape of a grain store representative of the importance of a good grain harvest, or sometimes as a tribal hut (ng'ande [4] ). Both of these represented security. The bishop (chikopa [4] ) has a traditional bishop's mitre headgear (possibly due to European influence) but without the facial scarification of the other characters. In some carvings the bishop appears as a witch doctor (native to 19th century east African culture). The pawn is carved in the style of an ordinary Makonde tribesman.
Makonde chess sets are usually carved from african blackwood, known as mpingo (the black pieces) and a kind of rosewood (the white pieces). Chess sets of this style are still carved in Tanzania and Mozambique.
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object. The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from individual sculptures to hand-worked mouldings composing part of a tracery.
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The Makonde are an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania, northern Mozambique, and Kenya. The Makonde developed their culture on the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique. At present they live throughout Tanzania and Mozambique, and have a small presence in Kenya. The Makonde population in Tanzania was estimated in 2001 to be 1,140,000, and the 1997 census in Mozambique put the Makonde population in that country at 233,358, for an estimated total of 1,373,358. The ethnic group is roughly divided by the Ruvuma River; members of the group in Tanzania are referred to as the Makonde, and those in Mozambique as the Maconde. The two groups have developed separate languages over time but share a common origin and culture.
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Toi whakairo or just whakairo (carving) is a Māori traditional art of carving in wood, stone or bone.
Shetani are spirits of East African mythology and popular belief. Mostly malevolent, and found in many different forms and different types with different powers, shetani are a popular subject of carved artwork, especially by the Makonde people of Tanzania, Mozambique, and Kenya. Physically, shetani of various types appear as distorted human and animal figures.
Tingatinga is a painting style that originated in East Africa. Tingatinga is one of the most widely represented forms of tourist-oriented paintings in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries. The genre is named after its founder, Tanzanian painter Edward Tingatinga. Tinga Tinga also insipired kids animation tales, namely Tinga Tinga Tales.
Healing of Abiku Children is a piece created by the Nigerian artist Twins Seven-Seven in 1973, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America. It consists of a large wooden plaque intricately carved and dyed with pigment to depict an important Yoruba ceremony. In it, a mother consults with a priest to keep her abiku twins in this world, rather than dying and being reborn to her over and over.
The name Makonde art refers to East African sculptures or, less frequently, to modern paintings created by craftspeople or artists belonging to the Makonde people of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania, separated by the Ruvuma river. Art historians, dealers and collectors have created this genre of African art, that can be subdivided into African traditional artifacts or modern artistic works. This genre can be traced back to the 1930s, when the first documented exhibition of Makonde art was held at the Centro Cultural dos Novos in Mozambique.
African ivories are objects and materials that are created from ivory or include ivory material that comes from the continent of Africa. The ivory from Africa would become widely sought after by the 14th century due in part to the poorer quality of Asian ivory. While Asian ivory is brittle, more difficult to polish, and tends to yellow with exposure to air, African ivory often comes in larger pieces, a more sought after cream color, and is easier to carve. Ivory from Africa came from one of two types of elephant in Africa; the more desirable bush elephant with larger and heavier tusks or the forest elephant with smaller and straighter tusks.
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Ulysses Davis was an African-American barber and self-taught sculptor. Davis is best known for his carvings of historical figures such as a set of mahogany busts of all the presidents and similar portrait heads of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Kennedys and other leaders from the civil rights era.
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Reinata Sadimba is a Mozambican ceramicist who produces work that originates in traditional Makonde pottery, while incorporating her own techniques and conceptions of femininity and motherhood. She is considered among the most important contemporary sculptors in Mozambique.
Scarification in Africa is a major aspect of African cultures and cultural practice among African ethnic groups; the practice of scarification in Africa includes the process of making "superficial incisions on the skin using stones, glass, knives, or other tools to create meaningful pictures, words, or designs" and expresses "clan identity, status within a community, passage into adulthood, or spiritual significance."
