ANGELIQUE KIDJO (NARRATOR): This ivory salt cellar was commissioned by a Portuguese patron from a Temne or Bullom carver living along the coast of present-day Sierra Leone. The result is a fascinating intertwining of imagery, forms, and ideas relating to two distinct traditions.

Here is Mamadou Diouf, professor of History and African Studies at Columbia University.

MAMADOU DIOUF: What has happened there is the emergence of these African communities living in the Atlantic cities, opening up a new world not only of exchanging, but a world of mixing.

You have this very strong presence of these Atlantic people who are constructing new cultures, new identities as people who are part of a global history.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO: Notice the alternation of male and female figures at the base. Above, hissing snakes confront barking dogs. Such elaborate vessels served mainly as display pieces in European collections during a time of increasing cultural exchange as Portuguese maritime merchants developed direct trade relationships with communities in West Africa.

MAMADOU DIOUF: You have a long period where the Portuguese are the most important European presence in Africa. They were forced to negotiate with Africa, and in many cases, they did not control the coast. And Africans were effectively able to engage in a kind of diplomatical relations, but were able also to protect their territory and protect their interest. So that phase is before the centrality of the Atlantic slave trade, a period of exchange of partners treating each other equally.