GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Akan portraiture is generic and idealized; however, Akan viewers would recognize the subject based on the individualized hairstyle and specific facial scarification at the temples.
When an Akan royal or other person of high social status died, a ceramist was commissioned to create a commemorative image. The artist, always an elderly woman, would gaze into a bowl of palm oil or water and see the deceased's image, which she modeled in clay. The fired clay image—which might be a full figure, bust, or head—was paraded through the community and then deposited in a special field near the cemetery. Left along with the figure were clay images of court officials and servants that would continue to support the deceased in the afterlife.
It was customary to pour a libation with a prayer that the image truly represented the deceased and that his or her spirit would enter the modeled image.
Excerpt from
Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, Arts of Africa, 2015.
NOTES
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
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RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Franco Monti Collection, Italy
n.d. Son of above, by descent
2011: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Alexander Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri and New York
The main source for this provenance is the invoice dated December 12, 2011, in the Collections Records object file (2011.37).
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Learn more about the Akan people.
- Annenberg Learner~See another example of an Akan memorial head.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art~See another Akan memorial head.
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Learn more about pottery in Africa.
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
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Apply to objects where number equals 2011.37
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General Description
Akan portraiture is generic and idealized; however, Akan viewers would recognize the subject based on the individualized hairstyle and specific facial scarification at the temples.
When an Akan royal or other person of high social status died, a ceramist was commissioned to create a commemorative image. The artist, always an elderly woman, would gaze into a bowl of palm oil or water and see the deceased's image, which she modeled in clay. The fired clay image—which might be a full figure, bust, or head—was paraded through the community and then deposited in a special field near the cemetery. Left along with the figure were clay images of court officials and servants that would continue to support the deceased in the afterlife.
It was customary to pour a libation with a prayer that the image truly represented the deceased and that his or her spirit would enter the modeled image.
Excerpt from
Roslyn A. Walker, Label text, Arts of Africa, 2015.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Learn more about the Akan people.
- Annenberg Learner~See another example of an Akan memorial head.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art~See another Akan memorial head.
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Learn more about pottery in Africa.
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~
Notes
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Franco Monti Collection, Italy
n.d. Son of above, by descent
2011: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Alexander Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri and New York
The main source for this provenance is the invoice dated December 12, 2011, in the Collections Records object file (2011.37).
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
2011.37
source file
object_notes_2_d-0574.xml.nores