H x W x D: 17.8 x 7.6 x 4.4 cm (7 x 3 x 1 3/4 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date:
Early-mid-20th century
Label Text:
Western collections usually attribute this type of ivory spoon with its large bowl and pierced handle to the Boa. It may actually belong to the Lega peoples or may have been used in a similar context--as an emblem of rank in a graded association. Although best documented among the Lega, graded associations responsible for aspects of government and for teaching moral values were found among a number of groups in the eastern Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Spoons, carved in a variety of forms from elephant ivory and bone, were status symbols and initiation devices. These spoons were never used for ordinary eating purposes. Instead, they were used symbolically to "feed" a high-ranking elder during a ritual.
Description:
Ivory spoon with large nut-shaped bowl and joined six stem handle that curves out in a similar way to the spoon's bowl. The two outer portions of the stem are dentelated along the edge. Overall milky patina with rust-colored spots.
Provenance:
Nelson Rockefeller, New York
Herbert Baker, Pacific Palisades, California, -- to 1967
Exhibition History:
Treasures 2008, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 9-August 24, 2008
BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
Published References:
Goodman, Elaine Sooy. 2009. "Warren M. Robbins and the Founding of the National Museum of African Art." Tribal Art XIII:2 (51), p. 94, no. 16.
Patton, Sharon F. and Bryna Freyer. 2008. Treasures 2008. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 70-71.
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