Claude Brown Collection #215 [1915]

The Claude Brown collection of Chokwe material culture was assembled by Mr. Brown from 1910-1915 in Chokwe communities near the diamond mining project in which he was involved. Brown, said to have been a recent alumnus of the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas, writes briefly of working along the Kasai River, near the 10th and 11th parallels south and near the Lobito to Luau railroad. The number and quality of the chief's thrones--carved chairs with motifs of daily life and insignia of power--suggest that Brown was amongst communities that were fairly affluent following the trade and the expansion of the Chokwe into Lunda country in Angola, Southern Congo and Western Zambia.

Crowns

"Aardvarks and pangolins are conveyed in Chokwe art by triangular patterns. Pangolins are animals that live underground and are considered to be a "spiritually significant animal." Since pangolins are associated with the underground, the Chokwe believe that these animals are in contact with the ancestors of the underworld. Interestingly, the Chokwe term for pangolin is naka, which is also the same word for grandfather (Jordan, M. 1998. Chokwe! New York: Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.)."

CBE- 499 Front view	CBE- 499 Back view
CBE- 606	CBE-508 Tube crown

Photos: Michelle Edwards

Basketry

Containers used to store manic or flour.

CBE-465	CBE-493	CBE-494
CBE-505	CBE-553, 550

Photos: Michelle Edwards

Thrones

"In the late 1400's the Chokwe and other African peoples came in contact with Portuguese merchants. During the 17th century the Chokwe encountered the European chairs that the Portuguese brought with them to West Africa. The Chokwe began to stylize these European models and incorporated their own formal vocabulary, which included, divination and political scenes, myths and parables, and masquerades and mukanda initiation scenes to their own unique and distinctly different Chowke chairs. The result was an entirely new and independent sculptural creation that was fully integrated into Chokwe culture and passed down through the generations (Homberger, L. and P. Meyer. 1995. African Seats. Munich; New York: Prestel. 27-28)."

"Ancestral figures reiterates the ideal of the chief as the mediator between the human and ancestral worlds and his responsibility in commemorating the dead. The middle panel on throne E-584 (below) represents ancestral figures. This pose, the cradling of the head, is associated with elders. It illustrates people deep in thought, and also with the burial position of chiefs and important members of the community (Jordan, M. 1998. Chokwe! Art and Initiations Among the Chokwe and Related Peoples. Munich; New York: Prestal. 38). Thus the chief/orator wishes to relate to his people/audience that he wishes to oversee the prosperity of the community and does this by paying tribute to the ancestors. In essence he relates to his audience ideals concerning his role as protector and his right to rule through divine kingship. Thrones reflect the microcosm of Chokwe life, which is based on the overall success of the community as a whole, in regards to fertility, cooperation, ancestors, natural resources, scared kinship, productivity and prosperity (Edwards, M. 2001. M.A. research paper: African Philosophy in Chokwe Thrones)."