The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2023

Pendant: Crocodile

1930 or earlier

Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, probably Baule-style goldsmith

Gold

Overall: 4.9 cm (1 15/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1952.265

Location

108C Akan & Yoruba

Description

This pendant was cast in gold using the lost-wax method. Gold objects are the only Baule art forms associated with ancestor spirits. Usually hidden in pots or suitcases, gold adornments are displayed on important occasions such as funerals. They are laid out around the corpse before burial. A widow will wear them on a chain around her neck or attached to her hair at the ceremony signaling the end of mourning.

Provenance
by at least 1935
Tristan Tzara by at least 1935
Nasli Heeramaneck, NY until 1952
1952
Cleveland Museum of Art by purchase, 1952
Citations
Radin, Paul, and James Johnson Sweeney. African Folktales & Sculpture. New York: Pantheon Books, 1952. Mentioned: p. 346; Reproduced: pl. 105
Brooklyn Museum. Masterpieces of African Art. Exhibition Dates: October 21, 1954-January 2, 1955. [Brooklyn]: Brooklyn Museum, 1954. Mentioned: p. 46; Reproduced: no. 125
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 389 archive.org
Robbins, Warren M. African Art in American Collections = L'art Africain Dans Les Collections Americaines. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1966. Reproduced: p. 91, no. 86
Sweeney, James Johnson. African Sculpture. [Princeton, N.J.]: Princeton University Press, 1970. Mentioned: p. 189; Reproduced: pl. 105
Vogel, Susan Mullin. Baule: African Art, Western Eyes. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1997. Mentioned: p. 299; Reproduced: p. 201
Webb, Virginia-Lee, and Walker Evans. Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: p. 22; Reproduced: p. 23, no. 13
Robbins, Warren M. African sculpture. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2005. Reproduced: p. 91, no. 86
Exhibition history

NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art" 2/1/00 - 9/3/00

New Haven, CT: Yale University Art Gallery, 8/30/97 - 1/4/98. Art Institute of Chicago, 2/14/98 - 5/19/98. NY: The Museum for African Art, 9/11/98 - 1/3/99. Washington, DC: National Museum for African Art, 2/9/99 - 5/16/99, Baule: African Art: Western Eyes. color repr. p. 201.

Baule: African Art/Western Eyes. Yale University Art Gallery (organizer) (August 30, 1997-January 4, 1998); The Art Institute of Chicago (February 14-May 10, 1998).

Baule: African Art/Western Eyes. Museum for African Art, NY (September 11, 1998-January 3, 1999); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (February 9-May 16, 1999).

Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 1-September 3, 2000).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.265