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Political African Women of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries

• 
  Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba, 16th century
  Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin
  Ivory, iron, copper (?); H. 9 3/8 in. (23.8 cm)
  The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972 (1978.412.323)
  
• 
  Standing Female Figure, 18th century
  Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin
  Ivory, metal; H. 13 in. (33.02 cm)
  The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972 (1978.412.302)
  
• 
  Crucifix: Saint Anthony of Padua, 18th century
  Angola/Democratic Republic of Congo; Kongo
  Brass; H. 3 1/2 in. (8.89 cm)
  Gift of Ernst Anspach, 1999 (1999.295.14)
  
• 
  Pectoral: Saint Anthony (Toni Malau), 18th century
  Angola/Democratic Republic of Congo; Kongo
  Brass; H. 4 in. (10.16 cm)
  Gift of Ernst Anspach, 1999 (1999.295.1)
  
• 
  Altar Tableau: Queen Mother and Attendants, 18th century
  Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin
  Brass; H. 13 1/2 in. (34.29 cm)
  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1991 (1991.17.111)
  
• 
  Head of a Queen Mother (Iyoba), 1750–1800
  Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin
  Brass; H. 16 3/4 in. (42.54 cm)
  Bequest of Alice K. Bache, 1977 (1977.187.36)
  
• 
  Staff: Saint Anthony (Toni Malau), 18th century
  Angola/Democratic Republic of Congo; Kongo
  Brass, wood; H. 41 1/2 in. (105.41 cm)
  Gift of Ernst Anspach, 1999 (1999.295.2)
  
• 
  Altar to the Hand (Ikegobo), late 18th century
  Nigeria; Edo peoples, court of Benin
  Bronze; H. 8 1/4 in. (20.96 cm)
  The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.218)
  

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As leaders, priestesses, traders, cultivators, oracles, wives, and mothers, women have occupied key roles in the developments that have shaped the course of African history. The turbulent years following West and Central Africa's initial contact with Europe were marked by the emergence of women revered for their formidable political skills and social vision. We know of these women today largely through oral histories, artworks, and, significantly, contemporaneous European documents. There can be no doubt that important and celebrated women existed in other periods of African history, but prior to the era of contact with Europe, written records of their names and achievements simply do not exist. Indigenous narratives about them have not survived to the present day, or have yet to be recognized and recorded. As the study of African history continues, however, the identities of other notable African women will surely be revealed.



The turbulent years following West and Central Africa's initial contact with Europe were marked by the emergence of women revered for their formidable political skills and social vision.

Related

Timelines (2)

• Central Africa, 1600–1800 a.d.
• Guinea Coast, 1600–1800 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (4)

• Ana Nzinga: Queen of Ndongo
• Dona Beatriz: Kongo Prophet
• Idia: The First Queen Mother of Benin
• Portraits of African Leadership

Other Thematic Essays (13)

• African Influences in Modern Art
• Candace Wheeler (1827-1923)
• Eighteenth-Century Women Painters in France
• Exchange of Art and Ideas: the Benin, Owo, and Ijebu Kingdoms
• Kongo Ivories
• The Portuguese in Africa, 1415–1600
• The Transatlantic Slave Trade
• Trade Relations Among European and African Nations
• Tutsi Basketry
• Ways of Recording African History
• West Asia: Postmodernism, the Diaspora, and Women Artists
• Women Artists in Nineteenth-Century France
• Women in Classical Greece

Maps (2)

• Africa, 1600-1800 A.D.
• World, 1600-1800 A.D.

Index Terms (11)

Art Movement/Style

• Esie Peoples of Western Africa
• Mossi Peoples of Western Africa
• Yoruba Peoples of Western Africa

Geography/Place

• Western and Central Sudan

Material and Technique

• Ivory

Object

• Altar
• Regalia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Ruler
• Motherhood
• Christian Sculpture in the Round
• Trade (1600–1800 a.d.)

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Alexander Ives Bortolot Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University

Citation Bortolot, Alexander Ives. "Political African Women of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn/hd_pwmn.htm (October 2003) Further Reading Schwarz-Bart, Simone In Praise of Black Women, vol. 1, Ancient African Queens. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Newton, Douglas "The Art of Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas: A New Perspective." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 39, no. 2 (Fall, 1981). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director’s Note" PDF