THE OLIPHANT IN THE MUSEE CALVET AT AVIGNON: Evidence of the autonomous art of Sierra Leone in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

Abstract

A carved ivory ohphant from the collection of Esprit Calvet (1728-1810) provides useful insights into the history of African art. Analyses are offered of the symbolism of the ornament and of the cultural affinities of the piece; an origin in sixteenth-century Sierra Leone is suggested. Uncontaminated by European influences, the oliphant stands as a monument to the independent originality of African artists at the moment when their output was about to be influenced by the demands of the European collector's market.