GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Akan memorial portraits are generic likenesses differentiated by hairstyles and scarification (permanent marks applied to a person’s body). Their neutral expressions were intended to project an ideal regal persona.
Traditionally, Akan women are ceramists; in the past, only elderly females made funerary terracotta sculpture. Following the death of the king, queen mother, or royal elder, the ceramist captured his or her face by gazing into a bowl of palm oil or water. The finished object, which might be a full figure, bust, or head, was deposited in a special field near the royal cemetery. The memorial sculpture was sometimes joined by additional clay representations of court officials and servants to assist the deceased in the afterlife.
Excerpt from
- Roslyn Walker, The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana, Label text, 2018.
NOTES
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Akan (culture): AAT: 300016000
Geography
Ghana (nation): TGN: 1000166
Process/materials
terracotta: AAT: 300010669
Historical periods
nineteenth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404513
twentieth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404514
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1974: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the Gustave and Franyo Schindler Collection of African Sculpture, gift of the McDermott Foundation [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
The main source for this provenance is the object summary dated July 4, 1994, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records object file.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1974.Sc.26
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
Akan memorial portraits are generic likenesses differentiated by hairstyles and scarification (permanent marks applied to a person’s body). Their neutral expressions were intended to project an ideal regal persona.
Traditionally, Akan women are ceramists; in the past, only elderly females made funerary terracotta sculpture. Following the death of the king, queen mother, or royal elder, the ceramist captured his or her face by gazing into a bowl of palm oil or water. The finished object, which might be a full figure, bust, or head, was deposited in a special field near the royal cemetery. The memorial sculpture was sometimes joined by additional clay representations of court officials and servants to assist the deceased in the afterlife.
Excerpt from
- Roslyn Walker, The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana, Label text, 2018.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Akan (culture): AAT: 300016000
Geography
Ghana (nation): TGN: 1000166
Process/materials
terracotta: AAT: 300010669
Historical periods
nineteenth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404513
twentieth century (dates CE): AAT: 300404514
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1974: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the Gustave and Franyo Schindler Collection of African Sculpture, gift of the McDermott Foundation [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
The main source for this provenance is the object summary dated July 4, 1994, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records object file.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1974.Sc.26
source file
object_notes_2_d-0464.xml.nores