Images(2)

Spear (Eremet)

Label Text"Women made the headdresses but it is the men's work to collect the ostrich feathers...According to Maasai people, every man must own a spear from thirteen years of age. Warriors are recommended to carry spears on a daily basis while boys are allowed to carry theirs when herding cattle only...Both the spear and shield are things that I would like to own for the rest of my life. The [shield's] pigment painting is based on a section, clan, and sometimes region. You have to hold it so a lion can land on it. Then you have to slide the lion over your head, and sometimes the lion weighs about 400 pounds. Do that a few times and you can confuse him."

Object number2000.1

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]).

Credit LineGeneral Acquisition Fund

Dimensions1 1/2 x 1 1/8 x 64 1/4 in. (3.8 x 2.9 x 163.2 cm)

MediumWood, metal, and plastic