{"data": {"id": 115157, "accession_number": "1935.304", "share_license_status": "CC0", "tombstone": "Mask (Bwoom), mid- to late 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kuba-style carver. Wood and paint; overall: 43.3 x 31.2 x 28.3 cm (17 1/16 x 12 5/16 x 11 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, James Albert Ford Memorial Fund, 1935.304", "current_location": "108A African", "title": "Mask (Bwoom)", "creation_date": "mid- to late 1800s", "creation_date_earliest": 1850, "creation_date_latest": 1900, "artists_tags": [], "culture": ["Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kuba-style carver"], "technique": "Wood and paint", "support_materials": [], "department": "African Art", "collection": "African Art", "type": "Mask", "measurements": "Overall: 43.3 x 31.2 x 28.3 cm (17 1/16 x 12 5/16 x 11 1/8 in.)", "dimensions": {"overall": {"height": 0.433, "height_inch": 17, "height_inch_fraction": 0.0625, "width": 0.312, "width_inch": 12, "width_inch_fraction": 0.3125, "depth": 0.283, "depth_inch": 11, "depth_inch_fraction": 0.125}}, "state_of_the_work": null, "edition_of_the_work": null, "copyright": null, "inscriptions": [], "exhibitions": {"current": [{"id": 312341, "title": "The Silver Jubilee Exhibition", "description": "<i>The Silver Jubilee Exhibition</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).", "opening_date": "1941-06-23T04:00:00"}, {"id": 355637, "title": "The Mask", "description": "<i>The Mask</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 1951-January 14, 1952).", "opening_date": "1951-10-27T05:00:00"}, {"id": 519209, "title": "The Imagination of Primitive Man", "description": "<i>The Imagination of Primitive Man</i>. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (organizer) (January 18-February 25, 1962).", "opening_date": "1962-01-18T05:00:00"}, {"id": 207289, "title": "Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art", "description": "<i>Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art</i>. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 1-September 3, 2000).", "opening_date": "2000-02-01T00:00:00"}, {"id": 181802, "title": "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", "description": "<i>The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</i>. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).", "opening_date": "2006-06-09T00:00:00"}], "legacy": [{"description": "New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1935: \"African Negro Art,\" cat. no. 463, not reproduced", "opening_date": "1935-01-01T00:00:00"}, {"description": "(also to CMA 9/27 - 10/27, 1935),", "opening_date": "1927-09-01T00:00:00"}, {"description": "Toledo, OH, Toledo Museum of Art, February 1 - 22, 1959: \"The African Image,\"cat. no. 164, repr. p. 30.", "opening_date": "1959-02-01T00:00:00"}, {"description": "Kansas City, MO, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, 1/18 - 2/25/1962: \"The Imagination of Primitive Man, no. 83.\"", "opening_date": "1962-02-25T00:00:00"}, {"description": "NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. \"Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art\" 2/1/00 - 9/3/00", "opening_date": "2000-02-01T00:00:00"}, {"description": "MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006):  \"The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art\", no. 44, p. 118, color repr. p. 55.", "opening_date": "2006-06-09T00:00:00"}]}, "provenance": [{"description": "(Charles Ratton Gallery, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "?\u20131935", "sortorder": null}, {"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": "1935\u2013", "sortorder": null}], "find_spot": null, "related_works": [], "former_accession_numbers": ["2500.35"], "did_you_know": "Imagine this mask topped with eagle feathers; they would have been added only on special occasions when it was performed.", "early_education_description": null, "artlens_description": null, "description": "Among the Bushoong, the central Kuba group, the mask known as <em>bwoom</em>\u2014most typically identified as the head of a hunter-gatherer\u2014forms a triad with a female mask and another male mask. All three are protagonists in the reenactment of the foundation of the Kuba kingdom. Outside the capital, however, bwoom appears in different non-royal contexts, such as the men\u2019s initiation society.", "external_resources": {"wikidata": [], "internet_archive": ["https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1935.304-mask-bwoom"]}, "citations": [{"citation": "Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art; London: Scala Publishers Ltd, 2012. pg. 238-9.", "page_number": "", "url": ""}, {"citation": "Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), and James Johnson Sweeney. <em>African Negro Art</em>. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1935.", "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 52, no. 463", "url": null}, {"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.", "page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 387", "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n72"}, {"citation": "Plass, Margaret. <em>The African Image: A New Selection of Tribal Art</em> :<em> the Toledo Museum of Art ... February 1 Through 22, 1959 : Introduction and Catalogue</em>. Toledo, Ohio: The Museum, 1959.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 30, no. 164", "url": null}, {"citation": "William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Ralph T. Coe. <em>The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World.</em> Kansas City, Mo: The Museum, 1962.", "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 11, 46, cat. no. 83", "url": null}, {"citation": "Robbins, Warren M. <em>African Art in American Collections = L'art Africain Dans Les Collections Americaines.</em> New York : F. A. Praeger, 1966.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 211, pl. 300", "url": null}, {"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 303", "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n327"}, {"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 303", "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n327"}, {"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 412", "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n432"}, {"citation": "Connell, Timothy C., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. <em>World Art Transparencies.</em> Cincinnati: West Educational Pub., 1998.", "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 34; Reproduced no. 42", "url": null}, {"citation": "Webb, Virginia-Lee, and Walker Evans. <em>Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935.</em> New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 24, fig. 15; Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 18", "url": null}, {"citation": "Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.", "page_number": "Reproduced: cat. 35, p. 100 - 101", "url": ""}, {"citation": "Petridis, Constantine, \"African Art Revisited\", Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 43 no. 09, November 2003", "page_number": "Mentioned & reproduced: p. 4-5", "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2003-09/page/n3"}, {"citation": "Robbins, Warren M.. <em>African sculpture.</em> Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 2005.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 211, pl. 300", "url": null}, {"citation": "Buser, Thomas. <em>Experiencing Art Around Us.</em> Australia: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.", "page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 433, fig. 17-22", "url": null}, {"citation": "Sims, Lowery Stokes. <em>The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.", "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: P. 55, no. 44", "url": ""}, {"citation": "Petridis, Constantine. \"A World of Great Art for Everyone.\" In <em>Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display</em>. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.", "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 112; Reproduced: p. 113, fig. 5.7", "url": null}], "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1935.304", "images": {"annotation": null, "web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_web.jpg", "width": "704", "height": "893", "filesize": "343848", "filename": "1935.304_web.jpg"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_print.jpg", "width": "2681", "height": "3400", "filesize": "5038254", "filename": "1935.304_print.jpg"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_full.tif", "width": "5926", "height": "7515", "filesize": "133622736", "filename": "1935.304_full.tif"}}, "alternate_images": [{"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt0_web.jpg", "width": "704", "height": "893", "filesize": "354657"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt0_print.jpg", "width": "2681", "height": "3400", "filesize": "5024091"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt0_full.tif", "width": "5793", "height": "7347", "filesize": "127704728"}, "date_created": "2009-06-10T14:52:42", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt1_web.jpg", "width": "721", "height": "893", "filesize": "360089"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt1_print.jpg", "width": "2744", "height": "3400", "filesize": "5284025"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt1_full.tif", "width": "5794", "height": "7179", "filesize": "124806464"}, "date_created": "2009-06-10T15:01:57", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt2_web.jpg", "width": "676", "height": "893", "filesize": "331389"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt2_print.jpg", "width": "2572", "height": "3400", "filesize": "4812377"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt2_full.tif", "width": "4096", "height": "5414", "filesize": "66549084"}, "date_created": "2009-06-10T15:08:43", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt3_web.jpg", "width": "704", "height": "893", "filesize": "339611"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt3_print.jpg", "width": "2679", "height": "3400", "filesize": "4894566"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt3_full.tif", "width": "4096", "height": "5198", "filesize": "63894112"}, "date_created": "2009-06-10T15:04:43", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt4_web.jpg", "width": "720", "height": "893", "filesize": "345339"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt4_print.jpg", "width": "2742", "height": "3400", "filesize": "4981633"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.304/1935.304_alt4_full.tif", "width": "4096", "height": "5078", "filesize": "62419552"}, "date_created": "2009-06-10T15:11:28", "annotation": ""}], "creditline": "James Albert Ford Memorial Fund", "image_credit": null, "sketchfab_id": null, "sketchfab_url": null, "gallery_donor_text": null, "athena_id": 115157, "creators": [], "legal_status": "accessioned", "accession_date": "1935-10-24T00:00:00", "sortable_date": 1850, "date_added_to_oa": null, "date_text": "mid- to late 1800s", "collapse_artists": false, "on_loan": false, "recently_acquired": false, "record_type": "object", "conservation_statement": null, "has_conservation_images": false, "cover_accession_number": null, "is_nazi_era_provenance": false, "impression": null, "alternate_titles": ["Headdress (bwoom)", "Helmet Mask (Bwoom)"], "is_highlight": false, "updated_at": "2026-05-29 06:01:41.423000"}}