Object Image

Seated Chief Playing Thumb Piano (Mwanangana)

By the early nineteenth century, Chokwe chiefs in the savanna of present-day Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola had become active trading partners with merchants from Europe and the New World. Profiting from commerce in ivory, rubber, wax, and African slaves, they emerged as important regional rulers whose prestige and power was reflected in the art they commissioned for their courts at this time.

This figure depicts a Chokwe chief, or mwanangana, and epitomizes the balance of power and refinement that is characteristic of Chokwe court art. His large, spreading hands, muscular shoulders, and aggressive posture epitomize the strength and vigor of a ruler. A bulging, domelike forehead and l...

Before 1869
Wood (uapaca), cloth, fiber, beads
42.5 x 12.7cm
1988.157
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019

Where you'll find this

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection