Tonga Doors

Most of the doors in the TONGA DOOR COLLECTION are between 50 and 100 years old. Some certainly a bit older and some perhaps slightly newer. None, however, is from the plethora of ersatz doors which hit the market in recent years for the "Airport Curio" trade. Pegs are mostly on the right side of the door and the design panel usually, but not always , on the lower half. The design almost always is on one side only (the outside). No two doors are alike. Each family made their own, which resulted in the great variation of design, which would not have been the case if there had been a village door maker.

The Tongas made doors of various sizes for different uses. Apart from the bigger "people" doors, they also made smaller ones for their granaries, goat pens and occasionally even chicken coops. Some doors have animals or fish incorporated into the designs, but the majority have geometric patterns - mostly chevrons in a variety of shapes and configurations. Some are big and bold whilst others are carved with minute, lace-like fineness. Most doors originally had paint applied to the design panels. These were crude pastes made from a variety of crushed stones, mostly in earth colours plus black and white. Being water-based, most of these original colours washed off over time, but they have been carefully restored by Bunny Mentz (in more recent times some doors boast more adventurous livery - it is not unusual to see boat yard blue or National Parks green!).

Doors having this ancient system of two opposing pegs swivelling within two corresponding holesin the top and bottom cross members of the door frame are used by several West African tribes, such as the Ibo in Nigeria and the Dogon in Mali. Further examples can also be found in Morocco and the North African coast, right through to the Arabian Gulf. The Tongas, however are the only people in Southern, Central and East Africa to make this type of door. It is thought they could have been shown the system by Arab traders who travelled up the Zambezi centuries ago.

For centuries the Tongas have been carving Doors (Koma in the Tonga language) for their huts from a single piece of hardwood. Their principal tools for this purpose are the axe and adze...some of the oldest tools known to man. Pod Mahogany, Monkey Thorn Acacia, Bloodwood and Mukwa are just a few of the magnificent woods utilised. The doors afforded the tribespeople a measure of protection from the big game that abounds in the area. They also believe they keep out the bad spirits.