CMA: African Art
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cmaafrican.bsky.social
CMA: African Art
@cmaafrican.bsky.social
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Sharing public domain works from the African Art department of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social
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Figurine https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.439
The Delenne’s stumbled upon this group of seven anthropomorphic figurines (2010.437-443) in an antiques shop in Nice during a holiday in the south of France in 1961. The carvings carry paperboard labels with inscriptions in French that indicate their ethnic and geographic provenance as well as some other details. Stemming from the Kongo region in West Central Africa, these seven sculptures feature a variety of gestures and poses; the use of mirror or glass for the eyes; and a red-white-black color scheme. They belong to the broad category of <em>minkisi</em> (sing. <em>nkisi</em>), containers for medicines in which an ancestral spirit was believed to reside. Two of the group are <em>minkisi</em> of the <em>nduda</em> type, characterized by the attached "guns" loaded with gunpowder and used to shoot witches.
December 10, 2025 at 10:38 AM
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Mortar https://clevelandart.org/art/1978.28
Tobacco, introduced into Africa in the 16th century, became the prerogative of leaders. As patrons of the arts, Chokwe chiefs commissioned elaborate pipes and mortars as part of their court regalia for display during public gatherings.
December 9, 2025 at 5:07 PM
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Figure Pair https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.297
Baule figures carved as pairs usually represent untamed spirits of the wilderness called <em>asye usu.</em> These spirits may intervene in the lives of individuals by taking possession of them. If this possession does not result in madness, it can lead to the human host’s becoming a diviner who can enter into a trance to reveal the causes of ailments and other misfortunes. People who feel their lives are being interrupted by the asye usu commission carvings representing idealized male and female forms whose grace and beauty in both anatomy and adornment will seduce the spirits and compel them to use the sculptures as their temporary homes.
December 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
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Gold Weight : Antelope https://clevelandart.org/art/1935.306
The wealth and power of the Asante kingdom was derived primarily from its massive gold resources. Since at least 1600, small weights in brass and bronze were used to weight gold dust and nuggets. The royal court had the most elaborate store of weights, while commoners often had about a dozen. Their imagery falls into two broad cateogries: geometric and representational. The latter often refers to proverbs, which used judiciously, marked a wise person. The weight in the form of an antelope with enormous horns may refer to the proverb "had I known" -- a visual pun between the length of the horns and the idea of hindsight as perfect vision.
December 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
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Male Figure https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.433
Its size, facial features, feather headdress (as worn by a local <em>nganga</em> or ritual specialist), and hangings of cloth seem to indicate that this <em>nkisi</em> figure in Vili style belongs to a type called <em>nduda</em>. While the hangings incorporate the typical shells, trade beads, knotted cloth strips, and small horns filled with medicine, they do not include the central symbol of the classic nduda: "night guns," or small grass tubes extending from clay or resin and loaded with gunpowder that was discharged against witches. Unless its night guns were lost during the course of its life history, this nkisi may instead be an example of a more general type called<em> mpanzu</em>, whose functions included protection and self-defense.
December 8, 2025 at 6:20 PM
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Jewelry https://clevelandart.org/art/1935.308
Shared by different Akan and Akan-related peoples, including the Asante and Baule, gold ornaments indicate status and wealth and are worn at public festivals by titleholders, chiefs, and kings. Most pectoral disks are suspended over the chest by a white, pineapple-fiber cord. They are owned by the okra, a young official who purifies the chief’s soul--hence, the name akrafokonmu, meaning "soul-washer’s badges" or "soul disks."
December 8, 2025 at 1:52 PM
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Female Figure https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.266
Female Figure
December 8, 2025 at 10:23 AM
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Club ("Knobkerrie") https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.232
Relatively short sticks were traditionally used for hunting and fighting and are customarily called knobkerries. The name refers to the characteristic spherical knob of wood or head atop a cylindrical shaft. The knobs could be decorated with copper or brass studs or carved in various shapes and forms. This heavily patinated non-figurative club, with its sliced-off spherical knob, exemplifies a classic Zulu style.
December 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
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Carved Tooth https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.137
This is a fine example of art produced for sale to European visitors in the Lower Congo River area. A long history of cultural and artistic interactions between Africans and Europeans began in 1482, when the Portuguese first established diplomatic ties with the rulers of the Kongo kingdoms. Note the image of a foreign merchant pouring whiskey from a keg.
December 7, 2025 at 10:25 AM
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Oliphant (Side-Blown Trumpet) https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.448
The elephant tusk used to make this trumpet was either shaved down or originated from a younger animal. The instrument is held horizontally when blown, as its mouthpiece is located in the tusk's inner curve. Trumpets were used as musical instruments on various occasions, and ivory examples seem to have been reserved for more solemn circumstances, such as funerals. However, short trumpets decorated with human figuration may have been made for export to Europe. Whether this assertion applies to the present object cannot be confirmed, though its honey-colored patina testifies to long-term handling. The seated male wearing a shell necklace and a European cloak and hat depicts a Yombe ruler, signifying the acceptance of outsider influence.
December 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
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Male Figure https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.10
This figure was used in an ancestral cult dedicated to the founders of small political groupings. Such figures were usually kept in the same shrine with a number of stylistically related male and female carvings that represented ancestors. At times of crisis, the custodian of the shrine spent the night in close proximity to the images, bringing offerings to the ancestors in exchange for their support.
December 6, 2025 at 2:12 PM
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Necklace https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.231
When wild game was still plentiful in the region, real animal claws would have been used to punctuate beaded prestige necklaces. Lion-claw necklaces were the exclusive property of royalty while the bone imitations were owned and worn by high-ranking individuals of lesser status. Large red glass beads were also reserved for the Nguni elite in the period before the destruction of the Zulu kingdom in 1879.
December 6, 2025 at 11:06 AM
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Club ("Knobkerrie") https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.203
Relatively short sticks were traditionally used for hunting and fighting and are customarily called knobkerries. The name refers to the characteristic spherical knob of wood or head atop a cylindrical shaft. The knobs were decorated with copper or brass studs or carved in various shapes and forms. Even though their basic shapes were derived from real weapons, many of these precious objects were rarely if ever used as such. Highly personal, they instead functioned as ceremonial display items or regalia, symbolizing the masculinity and prowess of their owner.
December 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
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Figure https://clevelandart.org/art/1976.29
The most varied group of soapstone figures and heads has been found in the homelands of the Kissi. Calling them pomda ("images of the dead"), the Kissi placed them in ancestral shrines, offering them the last seeds at sowing times and the first fruits of the harvest. However, the sculptures are believed to have been made centuries ago by the ancestors of the Kissi, the so-called Sapi people.
December 5, 2025 at 12:37 PM
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Figure Pair https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.297.1
Baule figures carved as pairs usually represent untamed spirits of the wilderness called <em>asye usu.</em> These spirits may intervene in the lives of individuals by taking possession of them. If this possession does not result in madness, it can lead to the human host’s becoming a diviner who can enter into a trance to reveal the causes of ailments and other misfortunes. People who feel their lives are being interrupted by the asye usu commission carvings representing idealized male and female forms whose grace and beauty in both anatomy and adornment will seduce the spirits and compel them to use the sculptures as their temporary homes.
December 5, 2025 at 8:21 AM
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Man's Tunic/Robe https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.6
Man's Tunic/Robe
December 4, 2025 at 4:21 PM
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Pair of Figures https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.459
Although this pair has been attributed to the Ngbandi, many of the style characteristics identified as typical of that culture are in fact shared with its neighbors the Ngbaka- Minagende, among others. Carving of paired figures is quite well documented among the Ngbaka-Minagende, where such sculptures are said to represent the mythical ancestor Seto and his sister-wife, Nabo. But field-based research cannot confirm the existence of figurative couples among the Ngbandi. Were all such Ngbandi-style couples created by Ngbandi artists for a neighboring Ngbaka-Minagende community or another Ubangi group? Or do they instead refer to a more localized tradition that was never documented by foreign observers?
December 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
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Face Mask https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.155
This kple kple mask belongs to the first of four pairs of masks that entertain as part of a performance sequence in the goli dance. The male in each pair dances first. The masks are worn by young boys in a rapid stamping dance. The masqueraders alternate with each other and watch their partners perform. The head of the male kple kple is painted red, whereas the female, like this example, is colored black.
December 4, 2025 at 8:20 AM
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Hair Ornament https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.500
Hair Ornament
December 3, 2025 at 7:52 PM
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Head of a Hobbyhorse https://clevelandart.org/art/1935.307
Pertaining to the male initiation society called Korè, this sculpture from the Koulikoro region represents the head of an aardvark and is part of a wooden hobbyhorse that is mounted by a ritual buffoon. The Korè initiates are divided into different classes, each having a designated mask. The ritual buffoons appear in pantomimes on different public occasions and poke fun at village authorities and other high-ranking individuals.
December 3, 2025 at 1:43 PM
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Knife https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1022
Knife
December 3, 2025 at 8:52 AM
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Male Figure https://clevelandart.org/art/1985.199
Figures like this would have been used in rituals by the ancestors of the present-day inhabitants of the Inland Niger Delta. Representing the gods and kings or queens associated with the region’s former residents, the figures received prayers and offerings in exchange for their support. The seated position of this male has been interpreted as a harmful pose intended to bring death to an individual.
December 2, 2025 at 7:24 PM
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Figure https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.205
A master female potter among the Asante created this clay sculpture to commemorate the departed. While not a naturalistic portrait, this figure depicts features associated with the dead person such as coiffure or facial marks. The rolls of flesh on the neck are a widespread artistic convention for beauty, prosperity, and well-being. After placing the memorial in a sacred forest clearing, family members invoked the spirit of the departed and asked it to accept the sculpture and facilitate communications with ancestors.
December 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
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Hat https://clevelandart.org/art/1997.180
Among the Kongo peoples of west-central Africa, traditional village chiefs and rulers hold authority over political, judicial and economic spheres. They are also ritual leaders, expected to intercede with spirits and ancestors to maintain the well-being of the community. The chief's power is manifested through a variety of powerful implements, including fly whisks, execution swords, and ivory scepters. Among the most important symbols of a chief's authority is the cap. Power is transferred to the new chief along with the cap of his predecessor. In fact, the village leader's title means "Chief of the Cap." Crafted with a complex combination of looping and knotting, this cap formed part of a high-ranking chief's regalia, as indicated by its height and elaborate patterning. The presence of leopard claws on the crown confirms the high status of its owner, for the leopard is considered to be the ruler of the animal realm.
December 2, 2025 at 10:45 AM
cmaafrican.bsky.social
Snuff Container https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.201
Snuff Container
December 1, 2025 at 7:06 PM