{
"data": {
"id": 171079,
"accession_number": "2013.52",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Ceremonial Ladle (Wunkirmian or Wakemia), possibly late 1800s or early 1900s. Africa, West Africa, C\u00f4te d'Ivoire, Dan-style carver. Wood, twine, and possibly resin; overall: 56.8 x 11.2 x 7 cm (22 3/8 x 4 7/16 x 2 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Trust, 2013.52",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Ceremonial Ladle (Wunkirmian or Wakemia)",
"creation_date": "possibly late 1800s or early 1900s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1875,
"creation_date_latest": 1925,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Africa, West Africa, C\u00f4te d'Ivoire, Dan-style carver"
],
"technique": "Wood, twine, and possibly resin",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "African Art",
"collection": "African Art",
"type": "Sculpture",
"measurements": "Overall: 56.8 x 11.2 x 7 cm (22 3/8 x 4 7/16 x 2 3/4 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.568,
"height_inch": 22,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.375,
"width": 0.112,
"width_inch": 4,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.4375,
"depth": 0.07,
"depth_inch": 2,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.75
},
"base": {
"height": 0.006,
"height_inch": 0,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"width": 0.137,
"width_inch": 5,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.375,
"depth": 0.105,
"depth_inch": 4,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.125
},
"No Extent Specified": {}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 412365,
"title": "The Language of Beauty in African Art",
"description": "The Language of Beauty in African Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (April 3-July 31, 2022) https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/language-beauty-african-art; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (November 20, 2022-February 27, 2023) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9344/the-language-of-beauty-in-african-art.",
"opening_date": "2022-04-03T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Pierre-Paul Grass\u00e9 by field-collection (inv. P.P.G.5)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1934-1985",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Grass\u00e9 family, by descent",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1985-2013",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "(Christie's, Paris, France, \"African and Oceanic Art,\" Sale 3553 Lot 94, June 19, 2013, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "2013",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "2013-",
"sortorder": 4
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "This ladle was a status symbol for a notable woman.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "An emblem of great prestige, this human-shaped ladle would have been owned by a distinguished married woman recognized for her talents as a farmer and her exceptional generosity and hospitality. One of her responsibilities was to host a grand Feast of Merit when she, along with other highly respected women, prepared food for a large number of local and foreign guests. During the feast the women danced brandishing their rice-filled ladles while singing in strident voices.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60759492"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2013.52-ceremonial-ladle-wun"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Windmuller-Luna, Kristen. \"An Obsession with Heads: The Impact of African Arts, Anthropology, and Photography on the Works of Alberto Giacometti,\" Medium (May 2022).",
"page_number": "",
"url": "https://medium.com/cma-thinker/an-obsession-with-heads-968e8e8c2d30"
},
{
"citation": "Petridis, Constantine. \u201c2013 Acquisitions: African Art.\u201d Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 2 (March/April 2014): 22.",
"page_number": "Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 22",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2014-02"
},
{
"citation": "Petridis, Constantine. \"Honoring Women: A feast ladle of the Dan people of West Africa.\u201d Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 5 (September/October 2014): 19-20.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 19; Mentioned: p. 19, 20",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2014-05"
},
{
"citation": "Grunne, Bernard de, Hans Himmelheber, and Eberhard Fischer. Dan: la danse des cuille\u0300res = dancing with spoons. 2019, 5-6, 78.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 5-6; reproduced: p. 78, cat. 26.",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Rondeau, James, Constantijn Petridis, Yae\u0308lle Biro, Herbert M. Cole, Kassim Kone, Babatunde Lawal, Wilfried Van Damme, and Susan Mullin Vogel. The language of beauty in African art. 2022.",
"page_number": "",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim. Aufgetischt: Eine Kulinarische Weltreise, Zur Kultur Des Essens Und Trinkens. Edited by Friederike Zobel, Katja Poljanac, and Isabel Schmidt-Mappes. Pforzheim, Stuttgart: Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim ; Arnoldsche, 2025.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 218, abb. 5",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.52",
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"date_created": "2013-10-22T13:22:34",
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"creditline": "Severance and Greta Millikin Trust",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 171079,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2013-09-03T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1875,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "possibly late 1800s or early 1900s",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
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"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-07-02 11:05:35.535000"
}
}