id: 154915
accession number: 1989.48
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1989.48
updated: 2023-04-21 21:04:21.365000
Face Mask, early 1900s. Attributed to Sabariko Koné (Senufo, d. c. 1950). Wood, upholstery studs, resin, and paint; overall: 31.6 x 16.7 x 11.4 cm (12 7/16 x 6 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1989.48
title: Face Mask
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: early 1900s
creation date earliest: 1900
creation date latest: 1920
current location:
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire
technique: Wood, upholstery studs, resin, and paint
department: African Art
collection: African Art
type: Mask
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Sabariko Koné (Senufo, d. c. 1950) - artist
See http://www.mappingsenufo.org/archives/734
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measurements: Overall: 31.6 x 16.7 x 11.4 cm (12 7/16 x 6 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Notable Acquisitions
opening date: 1991-06-07T04:00:00
Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).
title: Senufo: Art and Identity in West Africa
opening date: 2015-02-22T00:00:00
Senufo: Art and Identity in West Africa. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-May 31, 2015); Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (June 28-September 27, 2015); Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (November 28, 2015-March 6, 2016).
title: African Master Carvers: Known and Famous
opening date: 2017-03-26T04:00:00
African Master Carvers: Known and Famous. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 16, 2017).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* CMA 1991: "Notable Acquisitions," Bulletin 78 (June 1991), p. 114, repr.
The Cleveland Museum of Art (2/22/15-5/31/15) Saint Louis Art Museum (6/28/15-9/27/15) Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (11/28/15-3/6/16) "Senufo: Art and Identity in West Africa"
The Cleveland Museum of Art (3/26/2017-7/16/2017); “African Master Carvers: Known and Famous”.
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PROVENANCE
James Freeman, Kyoto, Japan
date: ?-1989
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH by purchase
date: 1989-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
Face masks like this example are most typically worn during initiation and funerary rituals of a poro association, an age-based organization with religious and sociopolitical responsibilities. Though only worn by men, the masks have facial characteristics that are essentially female, and their imagery is closely related to ideas of sexuality and fertility. The scarification mark on this mask’s forehead is an oblique symbol of a woman’s genitalia, while its lustrous black surface imitates a woman’s oiled, smooth skin—a sign of ideal feminine beauty.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Drewal, Henry John. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147.
page number: Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 114
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161319
Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page number: Reproduced: cat. 6, p. 42 - 43
url:
Gagliardi, Susan Elizabeth, and Constantijn Petridis. Senufo Unbound: Dynamics of Art and Identity in West Africa. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015.
page number: fig. 103, pp. 152-3
url:
Petridis, Constantine, and Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi, "Mapping Senufo: Making Visible Debatable Information and Situated Knowledge" Emily Lew Fry and Erin Canning, eds., Perspectives on Data (Art Institute of Chicago, 2022).
page number: Fig. 9
url: https://www.artic.edu/digital-publications/37/perspectives-on-data/23/mapping-senufo
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IMAGES