H x W x D: 34 x 7 x 5.1 cm (13 3/8 x 2 3/4 x 2 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Somalia
Date:
ca. 1940
Label Text:
The coastal culture of East Africa reflects its status as the crossroads of African, Persian and Arabic cultures with an artistic tradition dating back to the 10th century. The use of the chip carving technique and the emphasis on such motifs as rosettes, chevrons and concentric circles define a complex style sometimes referred to as the Azania style.
Somali ladles or spoons are called fandar or fandal and function as servers of roasted coffee beans. Some may have been carved simply as works of art never to be used. Typically, handles of such spoons have triangular or rectangular forms rounded at the top. The meaning of these motifs is unknown.
Description:
Ladle with a handle composed of two disc-shaped forms and one triangular form rounded at the top and decorated with concentric circles and lines radiating from the center.
Provenance:
Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1991
Exhibition History:
African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (installed March 16, 2017 to February 26, 2018)
Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016
Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
Published References:
Arnold, Marion (ed). 2008. Art in Eastern Africa. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota Publishers, p. 23, no. 0.12.
Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 168-169, pl. 74.
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