Iconography and Continuity in West Africa: Calabar Terracottas and the Arts of the Cross River Region of Nigeria/Cameroon
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ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: ICONOGRAPHY AND CONTINUITY IN WEST AFRICA: CALABAR TERRACOTTAS AND THE ARTS OF THE CROSS RIVER REGION OF NIGERIA/CAMEROON Christopher Lawrence Slogar, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Professor Ekpo Eyo, Department of Art History and Archaeology Recent archaeological investigations conducted jointly by the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments and the University of Maryland, under the direction of Ekpo Eyo, yielded a large number of decorated terracotta vessels, headrests, and anthropomorphic figurines at Calabar, Nigeria, which date to the fifth–fifteenth century A.D. The decoration includes a variety of discrete geometric motifs, such as concentric circles, spirals, lozenges, and cruciforms, among others. This iconography is described and compared to information available in historical sources in order to locate the terracottas within the broader narrative of visual culture in the Cross River region. The decoration of the terracottas reveals strong correspondences to modern art production across a variety of media, foreshadowing in particular the ideographic script called nsibidi (or nsibiri), which has been the subject of scholarly interest since the early twentieth century. Calabar gained international prominence in the seventeenth century due to the burgeoning transatlantic slave trade, was later named the seat of the British colonial government in Southern Nigeria, and is today the capital of Cross River State, Nigeria. While the accounts of traders, missionaries, colonial officials, and modern researchers offer much information about Calabar during this time, its earlier history remains largely unknown. Thus, the terracottas offer valuable new insight into the period prior to the initiation of the transatlantic trade and reveal a continuity of artistic traditions that is significantly deeper and more widespread than previously considered. ICONOGRAPHY AND CONTINUITY IN WEST AFRICA: CALABAR TERRACOTTAS AND THE ARTS OF THE CROSS RIVER REGION OF NIGERIA/CAMEROON by CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE SLOGAR Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2005 Advisory Committee: Professor Ekpo Eyo, Chair Professor Paul Landau Dr. Andrea Nicolls Professor Sally Promey Professor Marie Spiro © Copyright by Christopher Lawrence Slogar 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many institutions and individuals without whose generous help my research would not have been possible. The University of Maryland Department of Art History and Archaeology supported my fieldwork in 1996, 1997, and 1999 with Summer Research Fellowships in Archaeology, and travel stipends in 2002 and 2004. The Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments—and especially the museums of Calabar, Lagos, and Oron—were invaluable and gracious hosts in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2004. In 1996 and 2002, the University of Maryland Committee for Africa and the Americas provided a Research and Travel Grant for fieldwork. During 2001, I carried out research as a Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C, during which time I traveled to the U.K. to conduct research at The British Museum; the Horniman Museum and Gardens; the Royal Anthropological Institute; the British Foreign and Commonwealth Record Office; and the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford University, with funds provided by a Samuel H. Kress Foundation Travel Fellowship in the History of Art. A Research Grant-in-Aid from the Cosmos Club Foundation furthered the project in Scotland, allowing visits the National Library and the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, and the Glasgow Art Gallery. The 2002 research was also funded by an Ilene H. Nagel Travel Fellowship from the Graduate School of the University of Maryland. A Dissertation Fellowship from the Graduate School of the University of Maryland in 2002-2003 greatly aided the completion of this work. In 2003, a Walter Read Hovey Memorial Fund Scholarship from The Pittsburgh Foundation allowed a ii return to the U.K., where I worked primarily at the Archives of the Royal Geographical Society and the School of Oriental and African Studies Library in London, and the McManus Galleries in Dundee. I offer special thanks to my parents and family; to Ekpo Eyo, my ever-patient dissertation advisor; and to my committee members, Paul Landau, Andrea Nicolls, Sally Promey, and Marie Spiro. Mayo Adediran, Mrs. Uboh, Sonny Daka, and the staff of the Old Residency Museum, Calabar, have been exceedingly kind and generous—without their guidance this project would not have been possible. Jill Salmons graciously allowed provided me access to the research materials that she and Keith Nicklin created and collected over many years. Individuals who provided much valuable help include: Kathy Canavan; Philip Ajekigbe; Olu Lawal; Etubom Okorebi Asuquo; Onyile Onyile; Godwin Udott; Johnson Udott; Rose Boco; the people of Abasi Edem Street, Calabar; the people of Oboto Okoho, Okang Mbang, Esuk Otu, Nkpara, and Ikang villages; Mama Urom; Ngodo Amachi; Chi Nkama; Cordelia Aja; Violetta Ekpo; A. J. H. Latham; Cristina Stancioiu; Quint Gregory; Lauree Sails; Douglas Farquhar; William Pressley; June Hargrove; Ania Waller; Elizabeth Lingg; Scott Habes; Janet Stanley; Katherine Sthreshley; Christraud Geary; Christine Kreamer; Bryna Freyer; Roslyn Walker; Alice Howard; Scott Cheshire; Leslie Brice, Elizabeth Tobey; Ann Wagner; Tuliza Fleming; Letty Bonnell; Flora Vilches; Amanda Carlson; Gitti Salami; Suzanne Garrigues; Erika Greene; Shawn Simon; Pawel Kozielski; Lidia Domaszewicz; Barry and Toby Hecht; Jeremy Coote; Lynne Parker; Jim Hamill; Arkadiusz Bentkowski; Joy Herring; Chantal Knowles; Aileen Nisbet; Julie Carrington; Justin Hobson; Adrian Zealand; and Liliane and Michel Durand-Dessert. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..ii List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..v Chapter One: Introduction………………………………………………………..1 Chapter Two: Calabar Origins: Histories of Migration in the Lower Cross River Region……………………………………………………………39 Chapter Three: Before Old Calabar: The Archaeology of the Cross River Region to ca. 1500 A. D.............................................................................51 Chapter Four: Decorated Terracottas from Obot Okoho and Okang Mbang, ca. 1000 – 1450 A.D…………………………………………………69 Chapter Five: From Contact to Colonialism: Sources for Visual Culture of the Cross River Region During the Transatlantic Trade and the Rise of Old Calabar, ca. 1600 – 1885…………………………………….87 Chapter Six: Cross River Visual Culture During Colonialism and the Modern Era, 1885 – Present……………………………………………..120 Chapter Seven: Calabar Terracottas: Preliminary Conclusions..……...………...150 Appendix: Polyphemus africanus and the Idea of Calabar: Constructions of Cross River History, ca. 1500-1985…………………………….162 Figures…………………………………………………………………………………..193 References………………………………………………………………………………345 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Map of the Cross River Region of Nigeria/Cameroon. Source: Nicklin and Salmons, “Cross River Art Styles.”………………………………..194 Figure 1.2 Terracotta bowl from Okang Mbang, near Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. D. 29.2 cm, H. 14.5 cm. Department of Art History and Archaeology, University of Maryland, courtesy of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria. Photograph by Christopher Slogar………………………………………………...……195 Figure 1.3 Nsibidi signs collected in the early twentieth century by J. K. Macgregor. Source: Macgregor, “Some Notes on Nsibidi.”……………………...…196 Figure 1.4 Carved monoliths, Alok, Cross River State, Nigeria. The incised decoration is heightened with colored chalk in preparation for the 1991 New Yam Festival. Photograph courtesy of Ekpo Eyo……………..…197 Figure 1.5 Radiocarbon dates for Calabar archaeological sites. Chart by Christopher Slogar…………………………………………………………………...198 Figure 1.6 Woman at Calabar wearing print cloth with a pattern of conjoined arcs, the nsibidi sign for love or marriage. Photograph courtesy of Ekpo Eyo….199 Figure 1.7 Procession of Igbo Leopard Society members wearing ukara cloth during the funeral of a fellow member in 1988. Note the opposed arcs decorating the man at center. Photograph by Eli Bentor. Source: Pirani and Smith, The Visual Arts of Africa: Gender, Power, and Life Cycle Rituals…….199 Figure 3.1 Anthropomorphic terracotta figurine (Type II) from Akim Qua, Calabar. H. 19 cm. National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Old Residency Museum, Calabar. Photograph courtesy of Ekpo Eyo……..200 Figure 3.2 Two views of a partial terracotta globular vessel from the Cultural Center site excavated in 1978. D. 28.8 cm, H. 14 cm. National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Old Residency Museum, Calabar. Photographs courtesy of Ekpo Eyo…………………………..…………201 Figure 3.3 Anthropomorphic terracotta figurine (Type I) from Abasi Edem Street, Calabar (1996). H. 25.3 cm. National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Old Residency Museum, Calabar, A.1996.ORC.1.1. Photograph by Christopher Slogar……………………………………...202 v Figure 3.4 The Old Marian Road site excavated by Ekpo Eyo in 1998. Note the many objects that are inverted or turned sideways. Photograph courtesy of Ekpo Eyo……………………………………………………………..…203 Figure 3.5 Terracotta bowl from the Old Marian Road site, Calabar (1998). D. 31.1 cm, H. 15.6 cm. National Commission for