H x W x D: 98 x 16 x 12 cm (38 9/16 x 6 5/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
South Africa
Date:
Late 19th century
Label Text:
This standing male figure was once part of a male and female pair that may have been used in male initiation ceremonies or as emblems of rank set up in or near the houses of chiefs. It has traditional markers of gender and status--a carved penis sheath and a headring. The headring was worn by several groups in the region to signal age, status and one's readiness for marriage. The change in surface color on the thighs and hips suggest that for a long time this figure was clothed.
Provenance:
Paul and Ruth Tishman, New York
Exhibition History:
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection Highlights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 21, 2009-June 4, 2014
African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 15, 2007-March 31, 2009
For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981
African Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 29-March 1, 1970; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, March 21-April 26, 1970; Brooklyn Museum, May 26-June 21, 1970
Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 16, 1968-January 5, 1969; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, August 31-November 1, 1970; University of Texas College of Fine Arts, Austin; City Art Museum, St. Louis, August 20-October 17, 1971; Des Moines Art Center; Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV
Masterpieces of African Art: Tishman Collection, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Spring-Summer 1967
Arts Meconnus de l'Afrique Noire: Collection de Paul Tishman, Musee de l'Homme, Paris, 1966
Published References:
Arts connus et arts méconnus de l'Afrique noire, Collection Paul Tishman. 1966. Paris: Musee de l'Homme, no. 130.
Fagg, William. 1970. African Sculpture. Washington, D.C.: International Exhibitions Foundation, p. 100, no. 111.
Kreamer, Christine Mullen, Bryna Freyer and Andrea Nicolls. 2007. African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 144-145, no. 41.
Muze'on Yisra'el. 1967. Masterpieces of African Art: Tishman Collection. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, no. 214.
Sieber, Roy and Arnold Rubin. 1968. Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, p. 146, no. 166.
Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 241-242, no. 149.
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