Gong

Object Details

Label Text

With their practical and technical knowledge, African metalsmiths and casters create utilitarian objects and elaborate works of art. Archaeologists now estimate Africans have smelted ore, traded metal and cast or forged tools, weapons and objects for 5,000 years--long before European contact. After foreign trade routes were established, the arduous process of refining raw ores, which required large amounts of charcoal, was replaced by the less labor intensive pattern of buying iron rods and ingots of copper or brass that could be melted at the forge. At other times imported metal objects were melted down and recycled. With the increased availability of raw materials, the production of imaginative and intricate tools, weapons, jewelry, sculptures and currency flourished. Many individuals and communities stored, traded and displayed their wealth in the form of jewelry and nonfunctional currency blades rather than as coins or bar ingots. Over the past century, the minimalist grace of the currency blade has also attracted the attention of artists, collectors and museums internationally.

Large gongs served as currency, emblems of office or ritual instruments that could be tapped to sound a low clang. This one symbolized the brotherhood shared by members of the restricted Nkumi society. Chosen for their wisdom, Nkumi members acted as tutors to the eldest sons of reigning Tetela and Nkutshu families. They were also responsible for judicial matters.

Description

Forged iron hourglass-shaped gong. The top tapers into a narrow, flattened tip, wtih a broad, rounded bottom with ten raised divets on both sides of the bottom edge. The gong has a smoked patination.

Provenance

Tom Joyce, Santa Fe, 1986 to 2002

Exhibition History

Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016

African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (deinstalled October 15, 2014)

African Mosaic: Celebrating a Decade of Collecting, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2010-November 13, 2013

Published References

Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 235, pl. 128.

National Museum of African Art. 2010. African Mosaic: Celebrating a Decade of Collecting. Exhibition card. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Instituion, no. 3 (detail).

Content Statement

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Data Source

National Museum of African Art

Maker

Tetela artist

Nkutshu artist

Date

19th-20th century

Credit Line

Gift of Tom Joyce and museum purchase with funds donated by Carl Jennings

Medium

Iron

Dimensions

H x W x D: 53.3 x 24.8 x 11 cm (21 x 9 3/4 x 4 5/16 in.)

Type

Sculpture