1999.66 Standing male ancestor figure (kpín-dáá)

This inverted "Y"-shaped sculpture exhibits vaguely human characteristics—a rounded knob for a head with minimal facial features and a straight body forking into two legs. The LoDagaa refer to it as a ritual object for linking the visible world of the living with the invisible world of the dead. They differentiate shapes as male and female: a sculpture like this one is male, while a straight stick is female.

Kpín-dáá, as the sculptures are called, are kept in a sacred room in the family residence or in a smaller shrine build alongside it.

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

1999: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Joel Cooner Gallery, Dallas, Texas

The main source for this provenance is the Aquisition Proposal in the Collections Records object file (1999.66).

Apply to objects where number equals 1999.66