Southeast Tanzania
Makonde

African Blackwood / Mpingo
ca. 1950s-1960s
Height: 23 in
Other – Ritual Symbolism

The Makonde are an ethnic group from Tanzania and northern Mozambique. This Makonde ‘Ujamaa’ – Tree of Life sculpture was hand carved from a single piece of wood which still has some of its bark intact.  According to the African Blackwood Conservation Project, “One of the richest and most emotive cultural expression of the interplay between Dalbergia melanoxylon (African blackwood, Grenadilla, or mpingo) ) and its human users, is the ever-evolving dynamic seen in the work of the Makonde carvers of Mozambique and Tanzania.”  The traditions of these African artists reach back in time prior to the late 1400s, when Portugal governed the region known as Mozambique.  The Makonde are of Bantu origin, and it is thought they migrated from the west into southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique during the 17^th and 18^th century to escape Arab and colonial slave traders, and the predation of other tribes.  

At first the Makonde carvings were for ritual functions, a part of their cultural practices.  During the early 20^th century, they became an art form for Portuguese buyers, serving as economic revenue to help the Makonde people reduce the tax burdens of the colonial system.  Through the 20^th century the Makonde artisans developed three distinctive forms of expression:  Binadamu – the depiction of realistic human and animal figures; Ujamaa – an expression of human connectedness and interdependence; and Shetani – imaginative carvings depicting their spirit world.

Seen here is the ‘Ujamaa’ form known as the Makonde ‘Tree of Life.’  According to the African Blackwood Conservation Project this style is attributed to Roberto Yacobo Sangwani, an artist associated with Peera’s workshop.  It is constructed in the round from a single trunk of an mpingo tree, symbolizing the interrelations of family, tribal communities, and larger social entities.  As the Makonde are a matrilineal society (tracing kinship with the mother), this sculpture portrays mostly women and young children.  “In the 1960s and ‘70s, the Tanzanian President Nyerere’s Ujamaa Party adopted the art form as a national symbol of political unity.”

PLEASE NOTE:  African blackwood is no longer regarded as ebony, a name now reserved for a limited number of timbers yielded by the genus Diospyros that are more of a matte appearance and are more brittle.

Reference:  Makonde Art – African Blackwood Conservation  /   Barstow, M. (2020). “Dalbergia melanoxylon“. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: