id:			111077
accession number:	1929.566
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1929.566
updated:		2022-01-04 15:08:54.827000

Sandals (mitalawanda / mitawanda) or Clogs (kiatu cha mti), c. 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, unidentified carver. Wood and glass beads; overall: 6 x 10.2 cm (2 3/8 x 4 in.); part 2: 4.5 x 12.4 cm (1 3/4 x 4 7/8 in.); part 3: 6 x 9.5 cm (2 3/8 x 3 3/4 in.); part 4: 3.2 x 12.1 cm (1 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Educational Purchase Fund 1929.566

title:				Sandals (mitalawanda / mitawanda) or Clogs (kiatu cha mti)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1800s
creation date earliest:		1800
creation date latest:		1900
current location:		108A Sub-Saharan
creditline:			Educational Purchase Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, unidentified carver
technique:	Wood and glass beads
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Garment
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 6 x 10.2 cm (2 3/8 x 4 in.); Part 2: 4.5 x 12.4 cm (1 3/4 x 4 7/8 in.); Part 3: 6 x 9.5 cm (2 3/8 x 3 3/4 in.); Part 4: 3.2 x 12.1 cm (1 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation)
	opening date:   2021-12-10T05:00:00
	<i>Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 10, 2021-December 18, 2022).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	The Old Oak Antique Shop. Worcester, England
	date: ?-1929
	footnotes: 	
			
			* Original object card, curatorial file.
			
			
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH by purchase
	date: 1929-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
This distinctive footwear traveled from from Southeast Asia and the Middle East to Africa, first to the Swahili Coast and then further inland to parts of Central Africa. The deity Krishna wears similar shoes (<em>paduka</em>) in an eighteenth-century Indian miniature painting (2003.344).

digital description: 


wall description: 
Common in the Indian Ocean region, wooden sandals changed meaning across place and time. This pair’s base elevates the foot as the toes grip an antelope-shaped peg (<em>msuruaki</em>). Crisp geometric sole designs suggest they were rarely worn. East African elites and merchants once had exclusive rights to wooden shoes, wearing elaborate ones only for portraits. Formerly enslaved people living along the coast wore simpler ones from the 1840s onward, adopting elite footwear to assert their liberation. However, slave traders like the Zanzibari “Tippu Tip” (c. 1832–1905) likely brought <em>mitalawanda </em>to Central Africa; stylistic elements of this pair hail from that region.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1929.566/1929.566_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1929.566/1929.566_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1929.566/1929.566_full.tif