Engraved Calabash

The ornamentation of calabashes, or gourds, with pokerwork—designs created by burning the surface with a heated metal point—was a long-standing tradition among the Kongo peoples of the Atlantic coast. As with the ivory tusks on view nearby, engraving calabashes was a local tradition modified for the tourist market. By the 1950s, Benoît Madya was recognized as the most talented calabash carver of the time. Here, Madya depicted two drummers beating a long drum, a typical scene from the daily life of his village, Kitombe. Madya’s images focus particularly on dress, ornament, and material culture; he is also known for his engravings of classical mythological scenes drawn from European sources, Kongo proverbs, and animals, which he studied closely at the zoological gardens in Léopoldville.