Artist:

Ulysses Davis, born Fitzgerald, GA 1913-died Savannah, GA 1990  Search this

Medium:

carved and painted wood and rhinestones

Dimensions:

19 1/2 × 5 × 3 3/4 in. (49.5 × 12.7 × 9.5 cm)

Type:

Sculpture

Folk Art

Date:

ca. 1950-1990

Exhibition Label:

Davis often explored African and African-inspired subjects—kings and queens, warriors, and tribesmen, whose images he reportedly studied at the local library. A number of African-inspired but imaginatively rendered figures draw loosely on the theme of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. According to legend, they were banished from the Holy Land by conquering Assyrians. A number of African tribes trace their lineage to the Lost Tribes, whose stories of exile resonate throughout the Black African diaspora for the connections they offer between biblical figures and people uprooted or displaced from their ancestral lands.

(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Topic:

Figure  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson

Object number:

2016.38.19

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Painting and Sculpture

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7e889fdcb-29ec-446b-8d97-640e50a4711b

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_2016.38.19