Oliphant
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The primary visual conceit that Kongo artists endlessly transformed and deconstructed is that of a knot in which the ends of interlaced strands encircle and enjoin to create a contained form. The “endless knot” motif was articulated through processes that layered negative and positive passages of design. Using the adze and fine knives, carvers inscribed geometric patterns that unfold in horizontal and spiraling bands on ivory elephant tusks.
Artwork Details
- Title: Oliphant
- Date: 16th century, inventoried 1887
- Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Angola
- Culture: Kongo peoples, Kongo Kingdom
- Medium: Ivory
- Dimensions: L. 23 1/4 in. (58 cm), Diam. 2 5/8 (6.5 cm)
- Classification: Bone/Ivory-Musical Instruments
- Credit Line: MIBACT–Polo Museale del Lazio, Museo Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini, Rome
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing