The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 5, 2023

Male Figure

early 1800s

Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kongo or Vili, early 19th century

Wood, iron, and metalized glass

Overall: 55.9 cm (22 in.)

Gift of Katherine C. White 1974.186

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This work has a paper label indicating it was exhibited in the 1857 <em>Art Treasures of Great Britain</em> in Manchester, England.

Provenance
by at least 1857
John Allan Rolls (1837–1912) 1
(Mathias Komor, New York)
by at least May 26, 1961–1974
Katherine Merkel 2
1974–
Cleveland Museum of Art by gift from the above

Provenance Footnotes

1 "this was in the Rolls coll." written on photograph by Katherine Merkel; contained in an envelope postmarked May 26, 1961. Dallas Museum of Art John Wise Archives (photocopy in Curatorial File)two paper labels on object with name "John Allan Rolls;" one for 1857 Manchester Exhibition of Art Treasures
2 photograph by Katherine Merkel; contained in an envelope postmarked May 26, 1961. Dallas Museum of Art John Wise Archives (photocopy in Curatorial File)**Katherine W. Merkel, Katherine C. White, and Katherine White Reswick (1929-1980) are the
same woman
Citations
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Ralph T. Coe. The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World. Kansas City, Mo: The Museum, 1962. Mentioned: p. 11, p. 46, cat. no. 82
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 412 archive.org
Exhibition history

Manchester, England, 1853: "Manchester Art Treasures" (per exhibition sticker affixed to back of figure).

Kansas City, Nelson Gallery, 1962: "Imagination of Primitive Man," cat. no. 81

CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 224, repr.

CMA 1975: "Year in Review 1974," CMA Bulletin LXII (March, 1975), p. 98, no. 40.

Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.186