id:			155499
accession number:	1990.22
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1990.22
updated:		2020-06-10 09:02:06.766000

Memorial head (nsodie), late 1600s-early 1700s. Guinea Coast, Ghana, Akan, late 17th-early 18th century. Terracotta; overall: 19.1 x 13.6 x 15.5 cm (7 1/2 x 5 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edwin R. and Harriet Pelton Perkins Memorial Fund 1990.22

title:				Memorial head (nsodie)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			late 1600s-early 1700s
creation date earliest:		1675
creation date latest:		1725
current location:		108C Akan & Yoruba
creditline:			Edwin R. and Harriet Pelton Perkins Memorial Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Guinea Coast, Ghana, Akan, late 17th-early 18th century
technique:	Terracotta
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 19.1 x 13.6 x 15.5 cm (7 1/2 x 5 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Arts Primitifs by at least 1990
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Cleveland Museum of Art by purchase, 1990
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
The woman who sculpted this head did so without making a sketch, working from her memory of the subject.

digital description: 


wall description: 
Before they died, Akan royal family members commissioned terracotta portraits, including heads like this one, from female artists. After royal burials, these idealized substitutes were placed in sacred groves outside the village where they were the focus of periodic libations, offerings, and prayers. The knobs on the head imitate a once popular male hairstyle having a tufted pattern.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.22/1990.22_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.22/1990.22_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.22/1990.22_full.tif