id: 286213
accession number: 2016.57
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.57
updated: 2023-05-03 11:03:23.243000
Male figure, probably 1800s. Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Benue River Valley, Unidentified maker. Copper alloy; height: 44.7 x 22.7 x 9.6 cm (17 5/8 x 8 15/16 x 3 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2016.57
title: Male figure
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: probably 1800s
creation date earliest: 1800
creation date latest: 1968
current location:
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Benue River Valley, Unidentified maker
technique: Copper alloy
department: African Art
collection: African Art
type: Sculpture
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: height: 44.7 x 22.7 x 9.6 cm (17 5/8 x 8 15/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Language of Beauty in African Art
opening date: 2022-04-03T04:00:00
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.
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* The Art of Metal in Africa. African-American Institute, New York, NY (October 7, 1982-January 5, 1983); The Institute for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, TX (February 3-April 10, 1983); Charles W. Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA (June 18-September 5, 1983).
* Africa: The Art of a Continent. Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (October 4, 1995-January 21, 1996).
* Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (February 13-July 24, 2011); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (September 14, 2011-February 12, 2012); Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA (May 16-September 2, 2012); Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, FR (November 12, 2012-January 27, 2013).
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PROVENANCE
Acquired by Helene Kamer (now Leloup) in Nigeria (Biafra) in 1968 or 1969
date: 1968-1993
footnotes:
citations:
Helene and Philippe Leloup, New York, NY, sold to a private collector
date: 1993-2016
footnotes:
citations:
Private collector, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: 1993-2016
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 2016-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
Realized in a very distinctive style using the lost-wax method, this figure’s cultural origin and function is limited because it was removed from Nigeria during that country’s turbulent civil war of the late 1960s. Perhaps it was once part of an altar or shrine dedicated to a guardian or tutelary spirit. Connotations of prestige and wealth may explain why copper-alloy objects were diffused across vast territory and inherited over many generations.
wall description:
Realized in a very distinctive style using the lost-wax method, this figure’s cultural origin and function is limited because it was removed from Nigeria during that country’s turbulent civil war of the late 1960s. Perhaps it was once part of an altar or shrine dedicated to a guardian or tutelary spirit. Connotations of prestige and wealth may explain why copper-alloy objects were diffused across vast territory and inherited over many generations.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Brincard, Marie-Thérèse, and Evelyn Fischel. The Art of Metal in Africa: New York, N.Y.: African-American Institute, 1982.
page number: cat. no. H5
url:
Phillips, Tom. Africa: The Art of a Continent. Munich: Prestel, 1995.
page number: cat. no. 5.31
url:
Grunne, Bernard de. "A Missing Link?: Notes on an Early Proto-Jukun Seated Terracotta Figure". Tribal: the Magazine of Tribal Art. 10 (2) no. 39 (Autumn-Winter 2005): 130-131.
page number: Reproduced: p. 130, fig. 1
url:
Berns, Marla, Richard Fardon, Sidney Littlefield Kasfir, and Jörg Adelberger. Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2011.
page number: cat. no. 6.20
url:
Berns, Marla C, and Richard Fardon. “Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley.” African Arts 44, no. 3 (Autumn 2011): 16–37.
page number: Reproduced: p. 19, fig. 6
url:
Rondeau, James, Constantijn Petridis, Yaëlle 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:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2016.57/2016.57_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2016.57/2016.57_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2016.57/2016.57_full.tif