Luso‑African Ivory Salt Cellars (16th century) as an Historical Source for West Africa

Produced by local West African artists during the sixteenth century and into the seventeenth century, ivory vessels decorated with relief carvings of human and animal figures and with heraldic signs, constitute (along with ivory spoons and hunting horns called oliphants) the earliest “genre” of West African art made specifically for export to Europe. These vessels, commonly called salt cellars, attest to the extensive overseas commerce and intercultural communication that linked Portugal to the Guinea Coast and to southern Nigeria from the late 15th to the early 17th century. The salt cellars combine local African themes with iconographic elements inspired by European illustrated books and other imported items. Contemporary Portuguese narratives (1594/1616/1625) provide ethnographic information that helps to contextualize these ivories. When analyzed in conjunction with these written sources, the ivory vessels offer visual documentation of long-distance trade, as well as a unique perspective on intercultural communication between Portuguese patrons, Luso‑African middlemen, and African artists.