Door (Swahili), c. 1900. Tanzania.

Wood, height: 200 cm. Staatliche Museen

zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz,

Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin.

 

 

Variously described as Swahili, Arab, or Zanzibari, the carved doors of the east African coast represent varients within a widespread and ancient tradition in the western Indian Ocean, which declined after the Portuguese invasion but was renewed in the 19th century. Consisting of various interlocking members, the carved door is most often the only striking feature of an otherwise plain, white-washed building. All doors are double and open inward from the centre, the size and quality indicated the social status of the owner. Carved in a variety of motifs, the fish and wavy lines point out the important source of livelihood for the Swahili, the chain is thought to represent security, the lotus and rosette suggest Indian influence, and the incense and date palm trees, indigenous of Somalia and Arabia, are thought to show wealth. The leaves on the door were decorated with rows of iron studs and fitted with a clasp and cain to lock the door from the outside. Most often, these decorations centred around a Koranic insciption in the middle of the door, which likely contained the name and dates of the artist and owner.

Carved doors are only one manifestation of Indian Oceanic regional culture. The eastern African coast and the northern rim of the Indian Ocean have always shared an interpenetration of culture, such as the already carved doors imported to Oman from east Africa that likely influenced local culture.