‘African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection’

At The National Museum Of African Art

‘African Vision’

The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection  

Note photo credit must run in box

All photos courtesy of National Museum of African Art, gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

Web

2005-6-1.JPG –

This elaborate, skin-covered crest mask was worn on top of the head by early Twentieth Century Nigerians, possibly the Efik peoples from the lower Cross River region, with a costume covering the body of the masked performer. The hairstyle is an exaggerated version of one worn by young women during coming-of-age rituals.

2005-6-3.JPG –

This female figure, made of ivory and standing 37 inches tall, was made in the early Nineteenth Century by Edo peoples in the Benin kingdom court style, and was probably intended for an altar to a queen mother. It is one of the first two objects purchased by Paul and Ruth Tishman in 1959. “Ivory can be almost universally interpreted as a symbol of importance and wealth,” says exhibition curator Bryna Freyer.

2005-6-4.jpg –

Reminiscent of Greek sculpture, crafted by Sakalava or Bara peoples of Madagascar, this tall wood, pigment and metal funerary sculpture depicting a powerful, armed warrior dates to early to mid-Twentieth Century. It may have been designed as a memorial post or to decorate a tomb.

2005-6-50… -

Carved by Sunofo craftsmen from hard wood and very thin, this 14-inch-tall mask was designed for male initiations and funerals, and, more recently, public dances in the Ivory Coast. The human face is framed by buffalo horns, which are “positive symbols…and secret metaphors,” according to exhibition curator Bryna Freyer.

2005-6-7.1.2.jpg –

Carved ivory armlets such as this pair may have been part of the regalia of a Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century Yoruba (Nigeria) king. The motifs — heads with creatures coming out of their nostrils and fish-legged figures — evoke spiritual forces that shape the world and were controlled by a ruler.

2005-6-70… -

Designed to be used by a Nigerian Yoruba diviner to carry ritual objects, this bag is festooned with brilliantly colored beads and a fringe symbolizing deities. Only kings and those communicating with the gods were allowed to own such fully beaded objects.

205-6-89… -

Painted bright blue, red and white and made by Idoma peoples of Nigeria around 1950, this wood mask features female and male faces, topped by birds eating ripe fruit — a reference to harvests. Such crest masks are used at Christmastime, funerals and performances of men’s dance groups.

2005-6- 105

From Gabon’s Kota peoples, this late Nineteenth to early Twentieth Century reliquary guardian figure, made of wood, brass, copper, bone and iron, would have been placed on baskets containing sacred relics of revered ancestors. It is about 20 inches tall.

2005-6-10v2

This wood and pigment female figure, festooned with jewelry, conical coiffure and forehead scarification marks, depicts a bride from Nigeria’s Urhobo peoples. It was made in the Nineteenth Century for a husband to display publicly in his intended’s honor.

2005-6-2.JPG –

From the kingdom of Benin, now part of Nigeria, this finely crafted Eighteenth Century mask, made of copper alloy and measuring 28 inches tall, was worn by a divine-healer in masquerade performances for royalty. It is one of the first two objects purchased by Paul and Ruth Tishman in 1959.

205-6-34… -

Designed by Olowe of Ise, celebrated sculptor to Yoruban kings, this lidded bowl with elaborate figures likely held koala nuts for guests and offerings to deities. “The figures all embody Yoruba conventions of ideal feminine beauty, with an emphasis on complex coiffures, facial scarification marks, prominent breasts and postures that suggest devotion, inner strength and stability,” says catalog author Christine Mullen Kreamer.

2005-6-47… -

With nearly 6-foot-wide, richly patterned wings, small birds and chameleons along its upper edge, this butterfly mask emanated from the Nuna peoples of Burkina Faso. Made in the mid-Twentieth Century, the wood, pigment and metal mask would be used in masquerades, symbolizing a bush spirit, the coming of rain and the start of the farming season.

2005-6-71… -

This 5-foot-long iron staff and cotton sheath, covered with European glass beads, honors Orisha Oko, a principal Yoruban deity. It dates to the late Nineteenth to early Twentieth Century.

2005-6-77… -

Attributed to Yoruba peoples of Nigeria, this wood and pigment mask features projecting combs that symbolize life force and spiritual powers of Yoruba women. It was used in late Nineteenth to mid-Twentieth Century funerals.   

2005-6-9.JPG –

Thought to be the most important and the oldest object in the show, this meticulously carved ivory hunting horn was likely influenced by European prints and crafted in late Fifteenth Century Sierra Leone for a European patron. Scenes of hunters with dogs, heraldic emblems and inscriptions suggest it was designed for presentation to King Ferdinand V of Spain.

2005-6-95v… -

The scary, yellow eyes of this Cameroonian mask, from the late Nineteenth to early Twentieth Century, are covered with spider egg silk or the lining of nests of ground-dwelling tarantula. With animal horns below and a large, carved wood prestige cap above, this menacing mask reflects the power of the men of high standing for whom it was designed.