A Kingly Craft: Art and Leadership in Ethiopia: A Social History of Art and Visual Culture in Pre-Modern Africa (review)

Focusing on the Shäwa province of Ethiopia, this book analyzes eighteenth-and nineteenth-century local leaders who developed broader regional ambitions and drew on historical images and ideas to legitimize and advance their evolving political ideology. Inspired by scholars in visual studies, anthropology, and other fields, Jenkins seeks to (1) explicate the relationships between patrons and painters, looking at art and leadership as shaped by internal political dynamics rather than non-African external influences; (2) rehabilitate "modern" period church art, which many scholars see as debased and uninteresting; and (3) analyze changing painting conventions in order to portray aspects of daily life among Shäwa's leaders. Although this study is well written, interesting, and epistemologically important, the methodology is occasionally unclear. Furthermore, since two-thirds of the book deals with the reign of only one ruler—and much of that analysis is based on the few pictures that are included in a single prayer book—the findings may not be broadly applicable.

In the early stages of research, Jenkins combed several archives, investigating 769 rolls of film related to Shäwa and its secular and religious elites, especially the visual content. Ultimately, she focused on twenty-four illuminated manuscripts (containing 326 images), commissioned by four Shäwan rulers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Hence, royal patronage and similar geographical origins would seem to encompass logical grouping factors, and the temporal range would seem to facilitate the task of discerning change over time. However, some of the assumptions that Jenkins makes about her sources raise concerns. For example, she provides no justification for her treatment, in Chapter 2, of the "Miracles of Mary" manuscript—the only manuscript commissioned by King Amha Iyasus (r. 1745–1775) that is available on microfilm in the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library archives—as representative of the eighteenth-century art that the king patronized.

Four of the nine chapters focus on one of King Sahle Sellasse's (r. 1813–1847) illuminated prayer books, selected because it contains secular images from the monarch's reign. In this case, and others, Jenkins' methodology consists of describing one of the miniature paintings and then elaborating on a theme or issue depicted therein, such as the use of royal regalia, organized violence, and warfare; or the king's skills as a warrior, hunter, judge, chess player, and reader. Jenkins' use of theory, the secondary literature, and accounts penned by European travelers to analyze the content of each image is certainly competent. Oddly, however, other than to describe themes in general, Jenkins does not comment on the textual content of her manuscripts, as if the surrounding words are irrelevant to the images that she is analyzing.

This approach requires explanation, especially since she relies heavily on European traveler accounts. Do these sources offer a more authentic portrayal of Ethiopian court life than Ethiopian documents do? Substantively, Jenkins' analyses add little knowledge about nineteenth century Shäwan political culture, although she does make a convincing case that Ethiopian art from the modern period is just as worthy of serious study as older styles. Moreover, her argument that by the nineteenth century, Shäwan kings were influencing art styles and content as part of their efforts to legitimize their secular political authority is compelling.

Jenkins' epistemological considerations are novel and deserve closer consideration in the field of Ethiopian art history. Her analyses and arguments are informed, interesting, sometimes provocative, and often fun to read. Future studies in this vein should nevertheless include more rigorous discussion of the available evidence, greater elaboration on how examples are selected, and specific discussion of the surrounding Ethiopian language texts themselves.