{
"data": {
"id": 168742,
"accession_number": "2010.447",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Scepter, late 1800s\u2013early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of Congo, probably Kongo-style (Yombe sub-group) carver. Ivory; overall: 28 x 2.5 x 4 cm (11 x 1 x 1 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 2010.447",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Scepter",
"creation_date": "late 1800s\u2013early 1900s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1880,
"creation_date_latest": 1920,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of Congo, probably Kongo-style (Yombe sub-group) carver"
],
"technique": "ivory",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "African Art",
"collection": "African Art",
"type": "Tools and Equipment",
"measurements": "Overall: 28 x 2.5 x 4 cm (11 x 1 x 1 9/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.28,
"height_inch": 11,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.0,
"width": 0.025,
"width_inch": 1,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.0,
"depth": 0.04,
"depth_inch": 1,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.5625
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 202001,
"title": "Fragments of the Invisible: The Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture",
"description": "Fragments of the Invisible: The Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).",
"opening_date": "2013-10-27T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 287107,
"title": "African Master Carvers: Known and Famous",
"description": "African Master Carvers: Known and Famous. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 16, 2017).",
"opening_date": "2017-03-26T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, BE (March 25-June 5, 1988)",
"opening_date": "1988-03-25T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "(Ren\u00e9 De Wolf, Brussels, BE, before 1972, sold to Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "?-1972",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "Ren\u00e9 [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1972-2010",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "2010",
"sortorder": 3
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "Scepters often represent the chief sitting atop a bound prisoner or attribute to a violent death.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "Used by male chiefs, ivory scepters were symbols of status indicating worldly authority and supernatural influence. The use of ivory implies that the chief has the fatal power of an elephant. The figurine shows a chief enthroned on the bound body of a criminal destined for such a death. A medicine package would have been enclosed within the container extending from the figure\u2019s head, bestowing supernatural powers.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80075106"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2010.447-scepter"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Bastin, Marie-Louise, et al. Utotombo. L'Art d'Afrique noire dans les collections priv\u00e9es belges: Socie\u0301te\u0301 des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 25 mars-5 juin 1988, 205. Exh. Cat. Brussels: Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, March 25-June 5, 1988.",
"page_number": "Reproduced and mentioned: p. 205, cat. 163",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Lehuard, Raoul. Art Bakongo. Insigne de pouvorir. Le scepter 4. Arnouville, FR: Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1998, 962-963.",
"page_number": "Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 962-963, no. M3",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Petridis, Constantine. \"Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne.\" In Tribal Art XV-4, no. 61 (Autumn 2011): 121.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 121, fig. 6",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013",
"page_number": "Mentioned & reproduced: p. 12",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2013-05/page/12"
},
{
"citation": "Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene\u0301 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 24, 41,45, 112.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 24, 112-113; reproduced: p. 45, cat. 9",
"url": null
}
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"updated_at": "2026-07-27 19:16:25.523000"
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