1969.S.155 Knife with head at end of handle


GENERAL DESCRIPTION  
The handle of this knife (sape) is carved in the form of a woman's head with the distinctive Mangbetu royal women's hairstyle. Creating the hairstyle involved wrapping a woman's elongated forehead—which had been reshaped in infancy—with string and drawing her long hair around a basketry frame to create a halo effect.

Both men and women used knives for various purposes. An ornament as well as an implement, daggers were furnished with an elephant hide sheath and worn in the belt.

Excerpt from
Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, Arts of Africa, 2015.

NOTES
There are images from the Arts of Africa publication that could be associated with this object. However, as permissions for website use are unconfirmed these may be added at a later date.

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PROVENANCE 
n.d.: Clark and Frances Stillman Collection, Dallas, Texas/New York

1969: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Eugene and Margaret McDermott [1]

[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

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Apply to objects where number equals 1969.S.155

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General Description
 
The handle of this knife (sape) is carved in the form of a woman's head with the distinctive Mangbetu royal women's hairstyle. Creating the hairstyle involved wrapping a woman's elongated forehead—which had been reshaped in infancy—with string and drawing her long hair around a basketry frame to create a halo effect.

Both men and women used knives for various purposes. An ornament as well as an implement, daggers were furnished with an elephant hide sheath and worn in the belt.

Excerpt from
Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, Arts of Africa, 2015.

Fun Facts

Archival Resources

Web Resources
 

Notes
There are images from the Arts of Africa publication that could be associated with this object. However, as permissions for website use are unconfirmed these may be added at a later date.

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Cultures

Geography 

Process/materials

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS 

PROVENANCE 
n.d.: Clark and Frances Stillman Collection, Dallas, Texas/New York

1969: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Eugene and Margaret McDermott [1]

[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS

rules
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Objects
number
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1969.S.155
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
women: AAT: 300025943
hairstyles: AAT: 300262903
%Archived
knives: AAT: 300024668
knife handle (components): DMA
heads (representations): AAT: 300262520
@Bilal-Gore
royalty (nobility): AAT: 300188750
*Arts of Africa
ornaments: AAT: 300266794
Democratic Republic of the Congo (nation): TGN: 1000159
basketry: AAT: 300053590
Mangbetu: AAT: 300016426
source file
object_notes_3_a-0528.xml.nores