Head Post for Performance (Female Head)

Head Post for Performance (Female Head)

20th century

Heads that honor ideal women were carried into Kuyu rituals on sticks that enabled them to rise above all other spectators and watch over the proceedings. Distinctive features identify the face as Kuyu—filed teeth, broad lips, sliver eyes and scarification across the forehead that replicates bands of cowrie shells. Surrounding the face are geometric accents that intensify the look of this female overseer.

Wood

22 × 4 1/2 × 4 in. (55.9 × 11.4 × 10.2 cm)

Gift of Mark Groudine and Cynthia Putnam

2014.30.2

Provenance: [Papa Alle Gueye, Paris]; acquired in exchange from Mr. Gueye by Mark Groudine and Cynthia Putnam, Seattle, May 2013

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Not currently on view

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM