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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



earliest masterpieces, preserved from 

 the Magdalenian period, successfully 

 pictures, in realistic sharp-cut lines, a 

 spirited charge of woolly mammoths.^ 

 Ever since, craftsmen of all races have 

 been encouraged to use ivory as a sub- 

 stance fitted for the expression of the 

 beautiful. Their success is proof con- 

 clusive of the fascinating possibilities 

 this rich material has offered to a re- 

 markable variety of tastes, and its con- 

 tinued association with the costliest 

 metals and even precious stones shows 

 the high favor in which it has been 

 held. Neither the relative rarity, nor 

 the naturally small proportions of 

 tusks, succeeded in imposing restric- 

 tions — as is proved by the colossal gold 

 and ivory statues of ancient Greece. ^ 

 Monuments of deities and rulers, 

 thrones, chariots, and scepters, and the 

 broad field of religious art accorded it 

 prominence long before ivory was found 

 to be a suitable material for billiard 

 balls and modern trinkets. 



America, champion of democracy, 

 long ago gave the alien negro a full- 

 fledged citizenship ; but, strange to say, 

 she has evinced small interest in the 

 study of the native African and there- 

 fore knows relatively little of the high 

 perfection to which he may attain along 

 certain lines under the sway of power- 

 ful chieftains. As a race, it is true, the 

 black man has often failed to profit by 

 the processes of civilization offered in 

 Africa. In the eastern part, which for 

 centuries has been in contact with an- 

 cient and modern culture, one might at 

 first be disappointed at the paucity of 

 indigenous art. But who would expect 

 niceties of this kind from tribes that 

 barely succeeded in eking out a meager 

 existence ; and that were afflicted at the 

 same time by the currents of slave trade 



^ Their sundry achievements have been admi- 

 rably dealt with in Professor Henry Fairfield Os- 

 born's Men of the Old Stone Age. Charles Scrib- 

 ner's Sons, 1916. 



2 Ivory and the Elephant, by Dr. George Fred- 

 erick Kunz, Doubleday, Page and Company, 1916, 

 a standard work on this subject, representing the 

 harvest of a great authority (p. 22). 



whicli swept over their country, with 

 their destructive sequels ? Other tribes, 

 although more prosperous, were cattle 

 owners, sometimes with seminomadic 

 habits, conditions equally unsuitable 

 for the development of artistic tenden- 

 cies. Even so well-organized a people 

 as the Waganda can claim no particu- 

 lar achievement in the realm of art. 



The two great centers of true negro 

 art were discovered only within the 

 last few decades. They lie in Central 

 Africa, along the fertile fringe of the 

 huge, equatorial rain forests; in the 

 south, the Kasai region; and in the 

 northeast, the Uele district. Here, with 

 a background of more settled condi- 

 tions and a lavishness of natural re- 

 sources, art has flourished. In many 

 districts the powerful incentive of fe- 

 tishism occasions a profusion of elabo- 

 rate idols and offers a foundation for 

 artistic wood carving, widely practised 

 on account of its utilitarian character 

 and an abundance of suitable timber. 

 The favor in which negroes hold dances, 

 in connection with drinking bouts, fos- 

 ters the production of musical instru- 

 ments such as gongs, drums, and clap- 

 pers. A motley array of stools and a 

 diversity of curious potteries and orna- 

 mented gourds are also in common use 

 at such riotous gatherings, and it be- 

 comes apparent that the desire to arouse 

 the admiration of friends by the pos- 

 session of noteworthy pieces insures a 

 healthy stimulus to this industry. The 

 many queer shapes of hats, the pleasing 

 patterns of mats and other wickerwork, 

 a variety of elaborate hairdresses, and 

 the complicated designs of raised tat- 

 toos show the wide range of their artis- 

 tic tastes. Blacksmithing, too, is a 

 craft in which extraordinary results are 

 achieved. Some of the best work proves 

 that the West African Bantu negro has 

 a deep-rooted sense for decorative effect 

 together with a great store of practical 

 intelligence. 



Although in many ways the natives 

 of the Kasai show a higher develop- 



