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Material Culture
Venda Woman's Dress
Woman's dress photographed
prior to
1928, after girls had passed through Domba.
The Bantu Tribes
of South Africa - A. M. Duggan-Cronin
Images taken in 1949 by B.
Tyrrell and P. Jurgans
of two stages of post Domba dress.
Photographed by
Barbara Tyrrell and Peter Jurgens
Barbara Tyrrell
wrote of the 3 women below:
Left:
Mother of a young baby wears a thong around her waist to prevent the
baby crying when she is away.
Centre: A
post-initiate of Vhusha school wears thahu and stands in humble
attitude.
Right:
Post-initiate of Bomba wears "the feather" and her woman's backskirt.
She stands respectfully, awaiting gifts.
Tribal Peoples of Southern Africa - Page
51 The Bantu Tribes of South Africa
- A. M. Duggan-Cronin
Doll type objects
called thahu were worn under a beaded open worked belt on a girls
rears pointing downwards. An example was recorded the Barbara Tyrrell
watercolour above, as well as photographed by
Duggan-Cronin, dolls worn on three others.
Open worked beaded
belts collected in Venda by Paul Mikula of the Phansi Museum.
Mention is made
of thahu in
Evocations of the Child,
page 172 in an article entitled Musidzana wa Tshirova - The girl who has a
medicated rod.
Three examples of
thahu in the Phanzi Museum Collection - Durban
Three examples of
thahu, wooden - beaded and of clay, in the AKM Collection. The
centre example was collected by Paul Mikula from Lowani Ralimaoi at
Makhubela in 1999. He recorded it as having been made in 1976.
Thahu were worn as
adornment. It is suggested they were specifically there to promote
fertility. The article
Musidzana wa Tshirova
makes
further suggestion that these phallic objects are the representation of
a male genital organ and the tassels, semen, the latter most likely no
more than the authors fantasy and/or false discovery.
Venda women wore
extraordinary beaded belts, snuff tins and blanket pins. Beaded tin
panels were worn on the chest and called "Khambana Ya Fola".
Bead
colours chosen and beading techniques used resembled those of the
Venda's North Sotho and Shangaan neighbours. However, on closer
inspection details are easily identifiable to be Venda.
Venda Wood Carving
We suggest that the "Master of the Round Mouth" was of Venda origin.
Read down
to learn why...
Comments
will be appreciated.
Examples of wooden
chain links in the AKM Collection
Woodwork in Venda has identifying fingerprints unique to the Venda people. During the
1920's, anthropologists from the National Cultural History Museum in
Pretoria, field collected eight very long wooden chain link
sets, each carved from a single piece of wood. They collected the items in Venda.
Unlike
Tsonga chain linked objects of far lesser proportions, each
of these links had two flared points, one on either
side. Additionally, most chain examples terminated with phallic
protrusions on either end. (above right)
Double Pointed Link
We know of three
other examples. The centre chain (above) was part of the J. R. Ivy
collection and measures 7.2 meters. The dark example
(above) came from an East London estate and measures 6.45 meters. The third
was sold at the S. Welz Sothebys ex Norman C. Bloom Estate sale
in 2003 and measured 5.47 meters. (below)
Norman C. Bloom
Estate
Wooden chain links
of this magnitude were not necessarily curios made for trade to
Europeans. Had they been, far more examples should have surfaced in
antiquity markets. More likely, their use was as status objects by any
culture, as they were admired
by all those who came in contact with them.
A number of ladles of
Tsonga design are known with typical Venda links. These may
overlap from one tribe to another, but we feel the shape of the links
are a give away.
AKM Collection
Assuming the defining point of attribution to Venda
is the link "form", then
previously unidentified objects may be attributed to the Venda. A good example
would be
the smaller chain link with Janus faces carved on either end.
AKM Collection
There are a number
of known staffs, made by the carver of those which follow.
(or carvers) In each case, Janus faces resembling the smaller chain
linked face example, were included at each staffs mid
section.
Collection - Daniel Rootenberg
the
tire kicker
The staff above
may be of earlier vintage than those below. If two separate carvers were
responsible for these, they would have at the very least, been inspired
by the other's carving tradition. Alternatively, the same person may
well have carved both at different points of his career. Before
dismissing this, consider that artists of European origin often
changed style or techniques during their careers. Modern day academics
tend to ignore the likelihood of African artists doing exactly the same.
Had they not, their usual line of "from the same school as" would
in many cases fall away.
In our opinion, the carvers of
all 3 staffs
may be the same person. The clue is the naively carved Janus
faces, in relation to the far more detailed head finials surmounting each
staff. In all cases, the carver changed style between the two areas on a
single staff. At the same time, the Janus sections of the staffs match
the work of the smaller chain links, also Janus.
AKM Collection
Another...
The Master of the
Round Mouth - Collection Terence Pethica
Below (centre) is
a plate from Snelleman and Mullers work
Industrie des Cafres du Sud-Est de l'Afrique,
published
between 1891 and 1892. The figures on either side of the plate, as well
as the neck rests further down, are in the collection of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde
in Leiden Germany.
The Master of the
Round Mouth
Holy - Plate 135 Industrie Des Cafres - Plate 27 Holy - Plate 137
Other figures by the Master
AKM Collection
The figure above is
undoubtedly by the "Master of the Round Mouth", visually confirmed by the Snelleman
and Muller
figures. The example represents a respected
African sporting a head ring, dressed in European attire.
Wearing a
foreign uniform does not mean the figure is a curiosity carved for a European clientele. The uniform's inclusion simply confirms the carver had been in contact with Europeans by the time
the figure was made and that he felt such dress or fashion to be a
worthy addition to his artwork.
The AKM figure may be a
Matano used at
the Domba
initiation school. The figures attire strongly resembles that of the
instructor which Barbara Tyrrell photographed at the domba, shown again
hereunder. In this man's case, the uniform was most probably of personal choice.
Master of the
Domba - Photograph by
Barbara Tyrrell and Peter Jurgens
The Master of the
Domba - Circa 1949
Below are two
other figures by the hand of the "Master of the Round Mouth".
The Campbell Collection - Durban
East London Museum Collection
Both figures
depict Africans and thus are likely to be
Matano figures
as well.
A
underlying humour found in each of these works, as well as the variety
of subjects he produced, reconfirms the artists status as that of a "master carver".
Mapungubwe Rhino -
1050/ 1270 AD
The headrests
(below) are the property of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde and were
also collected by Snelleman and Muller.
The Art of
Africa -
Masks and Figures from Eastern and Southern Africa - Holy - Plate 140
In all likelihood,
the two collectors met the carver when passing
through Pretoria in the late 19th century, as they attributed the
objects to Maraba-stad in the former Transvaal. At the time, Marabastad
was a culturally diverse community. The carver would have been attracted
there by a growing European market, which explains why the four
Rijksmuseum
objects show a relative lack of patina,
in comparison to the other known figures.
The master carver
would have encountered Tsonga people in Marabastad, all of whom would
have influenced the other. The interaction accounts for the Tsonga
styled neck supports worked into each headrest. At the same time, it
helps to explain the lack of patina on the earlier mentioned chain linked ladle.
Click the images
to view a rare copy of
Industrie des
Cafres du Sud-Est de l'Afrique
Another aspect to consider
is the
origin of the carved round mouth itself, in context to early
collected Southern African art
. The open mouth design with exposed teeth is relatively rare. The
numbers suggest this carving style is area specific.
Below is a staff
surmounted with a male head. It not only includes a round mouth, but
displays a north Sotho styled coiffeur, placing this into an area specific
location.
AKM Collection
Another round
mouth staff is shown, below right. Note the upraised or pronounced
head-ring, a feature the Master of the Round Mouth included in his
staffs. In our view this fashion w | 
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Venda
Mapungubwe Hill
