The Vili peoples of the coastal region of the Republic of the Congo are famous for their artistic virtuosity as ivory carvers. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century in this region, elephant tusks were carved for the European export market. These were typically decorated with friezes of indigenous people (men, women, and children) engaged in everyday activities. These pictorial bands, which spiral the length of the tusk, often depict aspects of daily life, work, and transport and illustrate both traditional and imported forms of attire.

Ivories also depict commercial activities and other interactions between Africans and Europeans. These include depictions of bound and captive Africans that serve as poignant reminders of the forced commercial labor in rubber and ivory sanctioned and institutionalized in the Congo region under the colonial rule of the Belgian King Leopold II [reigned 1865–1909]

These tusks, known today as the Loango ivories, date from the 1830s to 1900 and are found in museum collections throughout the United States and Europe. Owing to Carl Steckelmann’s efforts, the Cincinnati Art Museum possesses one of the most extensive holdings (twenty-two examples). Aside from precious material, the recognizable imagery and narrative quality of the tusks added to their appeal for early museum visitors, who could see the stories unfold before them in spiral carvings—something that museum visitors today can also appreciate.

According to Carl Steckelmann, only the Vili peoples of the Loango Coast performed such carving work, which was restricted, in his day, to only fourteen artisans. Such ivory carving, done with a short iron knife, was a time-consuming task. According to Steckelmann, completing the smallest of tusks took two months, while the largest required “the constant labor of an expert workman for sixteen months. ”

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