id: 94940
accession number: 1915.495
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.495
updated: 2023-02-08 21:59:40.321000
Lamellophone (chisanji), late 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Angola, Chokwe-style maker. Wood, iron, and wire; overall: 19.1 x 10.2 x 6.4 cm (7 1/2 x 4 x 2 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund 1915.495
title: Lamellophone (chisanji)
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: late 1800s
creation date earliest: 1880
creation date latest: 1900
current location:
creditline: The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund
copyright:
---
culture: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Angola, Chokwe-style maker
technique: Wood, iron, and wire
department: African Art
collection: African Art
type: Musical Instrument
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
---
CREATORS
---
measurements: Overall: 19.1 x 10.2 x 6.4 cm (7 1/2 x 4 x 2 1/2 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
---
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples
opening date: 1998-11-01T00:00:00
Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples. Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL (organizer) (November 1, 1998-January 3, 1999); The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (June 13-September 5, 1999); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN (October 24, 1999-January 16, 2000).
title: Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths
opening date: 2018-06-03T04:00:00
Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (June 3-December 30, 2018); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (February 10-October 20, 2019); Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (November 10, 2019-August 16, 2020).
title: Narrative Wisdom and African Arts
opening date: 2024-09-13T04:00:00
Narrative Wisdom and African Arts. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (September 13, 2024-January 5, 2025).
---
LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* The National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC, Sounding Forms: African Musical Instruments, April 23-June 18, 1989, repr. p. 131, fig. 74. Also to: Richmond, VA, The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, July 16-September 10, 1989; Kansas City, MO, Nelson Atkins Museum, October 7-November 26, 1989; Paris, France, Musée des Arts Africains, January 6-March 3, 1990.
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama (November 1, 1998-January 3,1999), Baltimore Museum of Art (June 13-September 5, 1999), The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (October 24, 1999-January 16, 2000)."Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples"
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (6/3/2018-12/30/2018), National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (2/10/2019-10/20/2019), and Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (11/10/2019-3/29/2020): "Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths"
---
PROVENANCE
(F. M. Rapp, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
date: 1915
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1915-
footnotes:
citations:
---
fun fact:
The CMA acquired this plucky instrument in 1915, one year before it opened to the public.
digital description:
wall description:
The thumb piano portrays a wonderfully animated man riding a curious quadruped. His hat suggests he is probably a trader (pombeiro) engaged in long-distance commerce.
---
RELATED WORKS
---
CITATIONS
Brincard, Marie-Thérèse. Sounding Forms: African Musical Instruments. 1989.
page number:
url:
Wixom, WIlliam D. "African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art." In African Arts. 10, no. 3. (April 1977): 16-25.
page number: Mentioned: p. 16; reproduced: p. 19
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3335296
Bourgeois, Arthur P, et al. Sounding Forms : African Musical Instruments. Edited by Brincard Marie-Thérèse. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1989.
page number: Reproduced: p. 131, fig. 74.
url:
Chanda, Jacqueline. African Arts & Cultures. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, 1993.
page number: P. 75
url:
Jordán, Manuel, and Marie Louise Bastin. Chokwe!: Art and Initiation Among the Chokwe and Related Peoples. Munich: Prestel, 1998.
page number:
url:
Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page number: reproduced: fig. 2, p. 13
url:
Chemeche, George, and John Pemberton. The Horse Rider in African Art. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2011.
page number: p. 106
url:
Berzock, Kathleen Bickford, and Christa Clarke. Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
page number: Reproduced: p. 105, fig. 5.1
url:
Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display, edited by Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
page number: Mentioned: p. 104; reproduced: p. 105, fig. 5.1
url:
Roberts, Allen F., Tom Joyce, Marla Berns, William Joseph Dewey, Henry John Drewal, Candice Lee Goucher, and Rowland Abiodun. Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths. Los Angeles, California: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2019.
page number: Reproduced: p. 427, fig. 17.3; discussed: p. 430.
url:
Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019
page number: Reproduced: p. 18, fig. 1; mentioned: p. 19
url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1090438741
---
IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.495/1915.495_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.495/1915.495_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.495/1915.495_full.tif