Location

not on view

Description

Realized in a very distinctive style using the lost-wax method, this figure’s cultural origin and function is limited because it was removed from Nigeria during that country’s turbulent civil war of the late 1960s. Perhaps it was once part of an altar or shrine dedicated to a guardian or tutelary spirit. Connotations of prestige and wealth may explain why copper-alloy objects were diffused across vast territory and inherited over many generations.

Provenance

1968-1993

Acquired by Helene Kamer (now Leloup) in Nigeria (Biafra) in 1968 or 1969

1993-2016

Helene and Philippe Leloup, New York, NY, sold to a private collector

1993-2016

Private collector, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art

2016-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Brincard, Marie-Thérèse, and Evelyn Fischel. The Art of Metal in Africa: New York, N.Y.: African-American Institute, 1982. cat. no. H5

Phillips, Tom. Africa: The Art of a Continent. Munich: Prestel, 1995. cat. no. 5.31

Grunne, Bernard de. "A Missing Link?: Notes on an Early Proto-Jukun Seated Terracotta Figure". Tribal: the Magazine of Tribal Art. 10 (2) no. 39 (Autumn-Winter 2005): 130-131. Reproduced: p. 130, fig. 1

Berns, Marla, Richard Fardon, Sidney Littlefield Kasfir, and Jörg Adelberger. Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2011. cat. no. 6.20

Berns, Marla C, and Richard Fardon. “Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley.” African Arts 44, no. 3 (Autumn 2011): 16–37. Reproduced: p. 19, fig. 6

Rondeau, James, Constantijn Petridis, Yaëlle Biro, Herbert M. Cole, Kassim Kone, Babatunde Lawal, Wilfried Van Damme, and Susan Mullin Vogel. The language of beauty in African art. 2022.

Exhibition history

The Art of Metal in Africa. African-American Institute, New York, NY (October 7, 1982-January 5, 1983); The Institute for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, TX (February 3-April 10, 1983); Charles W. Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA (June 18-September 5, 1983).

Africa: The Art of a Continent. Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (October 4, 1995-January 21, 1996).

Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (February 13-July 24, 2011); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (September 14, 2011-February 12, 2012); Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA (May 16-September 2, 2012); Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, FR (November 12, 2012-January 27, 2013).

The Language of Beauty in African Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (April 3-July 31, 2022) https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/language-beauty-african-art; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (November 20, 2022-February 27, 2023) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9344/the-language-of-beauty-in-african....

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Male figure

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Benue River Valley, Unidentified maker

Location

Description