id: 94940 accession number: 1915.495 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.495 updated: 2022-06-21 09:00:10.971000 Thumb Piano, late 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo or Angola, Chokwe peoples. 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: Thumb Piano 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 Congo or Angola, Chokwe peoples 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). --- 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. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS 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 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: 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: 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 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