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The ancient kingdom of Benin has a rich cultural heritage and its history is told orally, with its art
as well as other symbols and objects that were created in the past. Bronze and Brass casting by
the lost wax method was an active pursuit in Benin before the thirteenth century and eventually
spread to other regions of Africa. This system is still in use today in Benin City, Nigeria by the
descendants of the original sculptors the art of which has been passed down several generations.
Jean Laude describes bronze casting by the cireperdue process as the following: First the artist
molds his work in wax, providing an outlet for the melted metal in a kind of extension. The wax core
is then covered with powdered clay which, when wet, clings tightly inside every intricate depression.
On top of this first coating he adds another of rougher clay mixed with kapok floss. When everything
is heated, the melted wax drains off the mold. The smith then puts the metal in a crucible which he
adapts to the neck of the mold, carefully sealing the two parts with clay. With the crucible at the
bottom, he puts everything over the flames of an open fire which he stokes. When the metal begins
to melt, the mold is turned over with a pair of pliers; the melted bronze runs into the hollow form left
by the wax. When the metal is cooled, the mold is broken. The work is then separated from its stem
and the rough edges are removed with a chisel. (Jean Laude, Translated by Jean Decock, The Arts
of Black Africa, U. of California Press, Berkeley, 1966. Translation in 1971. With this technique
(Cireperdue) no two pieces of sculpture are the same. While the themes are repetitive, the mold is
lost after each casting. This gives every bronze statuete we sell its distinctive originality.
These pieces will last for thousands of years and will make the African American and other lovers
of ancient art benefit from it’s aesthetic enrichment, as well as gain a sense of belonging. This
could also inspire the average African American to visit his ancestral homeland and promote
the ideals of Kwanza. Although the Benin Art culture is primarily a bronze culture there also
exists the use of other materials like Wood, Bamboo, Canvas, Calabash e.t.c.
These pieces when collected tell a story about the origin and early civilization of Africa which is
contrary to several early beliefs that Africans were primitive and retrogressive.
Even in our not too distant history Victor Segers M.D. describes his orientation as a school boy
on the African. "During my early education, I was taught the prevailing view that Africans had no soul,
no conscience, no abstraction and no history. Everything had to be taught to them by whites. I still
have my fourth grade notebook with notations about the primitiveness of Africans. They were said to
be incapable of original ideas, had to be taught everything and could only perform routine tasks under
supervision." (Victor Segers M.D. The Lost Soul Of Africa), Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. 1996.
However, Victor Segers goes further to say that he was attracted by the sentiments of Mr. M. Storm, in
his dissenting testimony to the delegates of the Geographical Society in 1893. He said he believed
Africa had great civilizations such as Egypt. He had observed that present religious customs point to
sophisticated religious beliefs which regressed due to slave trade, wars, famine and other external
influences. He observed that the path of civilization in any society is not a predictable upward course
as Darwinian evolutionists believed. "The twentieth century is not the finest hour for Africa." (Albert Chapaux,
LE CONGO, Charles Rozez, Brussels, 1894, p.50) Others have supported this idea. Rev. R.H. Stone
published a book in 1899 in which he described his visit to Nigeria.
His depiction was consistent with Storms’ observations and opposite to the prevailing image of primitive
Africa. Instead of being lazy, naked savages, living on the spontaneous productions of the earth, they were
dressed and very industrious. The men were builders, blacksmiths, ironsmelters, carpenters. They made
razors, swords, knives, hoes, bill-hooks, axes, arrowheads, stirrups. (R.H. Stone, In Africa’s Forest and
Jungle: or Six Years Among the Yorubas, New York: Fleming H Revell, 1899).
Jean Laude observed in The Arts of Black Africa (U. of California press, Berkeley 1966. P. 10) that even
in the fifteenth century, Arabian and European travelers agreed that African states were well structured,
that their people were prosperous, and that their cities were wealthy and had broad avenues. According
to Levi Strauss, in its path to world domination, the West has wrecked enormous devastation.
(Claude Levi Strauss, Triste Tropique, Atherneum Publishing, 1955. Translated from French into
English by John and Doreen Weightman in 1974) "The Atlantic slave trade meant economic progress
for the West and ruin for Africa as the best talent and raw materials left Africa to build the economies of
the West. Under the onslaught of colonial control, the culture could not survive". The harsh treatment
of the colonialists over the vanquished forced African civilizations to lose focus and wander aimlessly.
As with many tribal groups, many hapless victims suffered from the brutality and terror brought on by
slave traders and others who through greed exploited the people in search of slaves, precious metals,
minerals and other raw materials. The western world prospered and kept their silence while bigotry,
disease and war devastated Africa. This pillaging and plundering continues under different guises to
this very day. Africans also remain stereotyped today by the the West as backward, overlooking
the simple fact that whatever position the African finds himself today it is as a result of the manipulations
of the West. According to Jean Laude, "Relations between states were warped and corrupted by the
slave hunt. Societies disintegrated after having lost their best elements by death and deportation.
Societies, often isolated on barren soil and suspicious of all that was foreign withdrew into themselves.
" (Jean Laude, The Arts of Black Africa, U. of California Press, 1966, p. 14) Now convinced by Darwinian
logic, Europeans looked no further than the present state of affairs of Africans (that their brethren had
created) and characterized Africans as wandering in the darkness of man’s infancy. This characterization
sadly is still used today all over the world.
While photographs do not do justice to Art Works, the actual
Art Work may not look exactly like the picture - remember no
two sculptures can be exactly the same.
We hope you have fun shopping.
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