H x W x D: 42.3 x 6.4 x 31.3 cm (16 5/8 x 2 1/2 x 12 5/16 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Nigeria
Niger
Date:
Late 20th century
Label Text:
Early 20th century travelers and government agents reported seeing hunters in northern Nigeria and Niger, crouching in the grass with their bow and arrows with a bird decoy strapped to their foreheads. The hornbill could be constructed of an actual skull, as with this example, or imitated in carved wood. It would be covered with leather and sometimes a decoration of beads or mirror bits would be added.
Description:
Hunter's decoy in the form of a hornbill beak covered with leather on a wood neck.
Provenance:
Mr. and Mrs. Chaim Gross, New York, 1977
Exhibition History:
Artful Animals, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., July 1, 2009-July 25, 2010
Thinking with Animals, African Images and Perceptions, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., March 24-September 7, 1982
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