Artistry Permits and Custom May Ordain - Northwestern University

207 Ibid.
208 G. de San Bernadino, Itinerario. in SD, 157.
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Reportedly, in 1498, Malindi’s sultan “was seated on two cushioned chairs of bronze;” 207
almost a century later the sultan held state meetings and “sat in a skillfully wrought chair
of mother-of-pearl.” 208 This latter chair design was very similar to the kiti cha enzi, or
“chair of power,” of the nineteenth century. The chair’s ornately carved frame, inset with
ivory or mother-of-pearl, connoted its occupant’s access to channels of wealth production
and the employment of high-wage skilled artisans. These chairs are remembered as serving
in Siyu as the ruler’s “throne” at baraza, or town meetings. 209 While the office of sultan
had been liquidated in most Swahili city-states by the mid 1800s, the kiti cha enzi is still
reserved only for those with significant resources. 210 Such chairs in the sixteenth century
were designed to exalt the position of the sultan(a) and to humble petitioners entering
the sultan(a)’s court. Sultan Yusuf of Sofala received guests while seated on an Indian
couch covered with silk cloths, while all visitors—even the wealthiest merchants of the
town—sat on “low triangular three-legged stools, the seats of which were of undressed
hide.” 211
Large ivory horns, or siwa, were for the exclusive use of the sultan(a) and his/her
lineage, as documented on numerous occasions in accounts of Swahili courts. 212 These
horns embodied state power, and numerous oral traditions from Kilwa, Vumba, and Pate
attest to their importance in public functions. The Sultan of Malindi in the late fifteenth
century was always preceded by “many players of anafils [metal horns] 213 and two
trumpets of ivory, richly carved, and of the size of a man, which were blown from a hole in
209 H. Brown, “Siyu: Town of Craftsmen,” 108. (Brown’s oral history was given by Husein Omari, 1981.) Brown
notes that the chairs are still used during wedding ceremonies. This seems very similar to the use of umbrellas
and chairs in the weddings of Shirazi families of Domoni. Personal Communication, M. Ottenheimer, 1996. cf.
idem, Marriage in Domoni.
210 See J. de Vere Allen, “The Kiti Cha Enzi and Other Swahili Chairs,” African Arts. (22) 3 (1989): 54-63; and
“Swahili Culture Reconsidered,” 118.
211 Castanheda, 387.
212 Similar siwa which still exist are made out of bronze, wood, as well as a combination of ivory and bronze. H.
Sassoon, The Siwas of Lamu: Two Historic Trumpets in Brass and Ivory. Nairobi, 1975, and J. de Vere Allen, “The
Siwas of Pate and Lamu: Two Antique Side-Blown Horns from the Swahili Coast,” Art and Archeology Research
Papers. (1976): 38-47. cf. A. Dickenson, “The Regalia of the Wa-Vumba,” Man. (21) 1921. 33-5. It is also worthy
of note that side-blown ivory horns are not unique to the Swahili coast. Items of similar form and function can
be found throughout the East African interior. J. de Vere Allen, “Two Antique Ivory Musical Instruments from
Central Kenya,” Kenya Past and Present. 8 (1977): 11-13.
213 Short and thin metal horns were still called fili on Ngazija in the early twentieth century. Fontoynont and
Romandahy, “La Grande Comore,” Mémoires de l’Académie Malgache. (23) 1937. Pl. XII. It is also possible that
the anafils described by Portuguese observers are similar to the modern zumari, or short horns of metal, ivory, or
wood. See A. Boyd, “The Musical Instruments of Lamu,” Kenya Past and Present. 80 (1977): 5-6.