Standing female figure

We contemplate a standing image of a woman, possible carved for a Dan patron to the west. She projects a handsome verticality. Her eyes narrow down. This wreaks erotic havoc on the young men of the Dan, who border on Guro country. The image fulfills another Dan canon of fine standing: "It is not good for a beautiful person to be stiff in body when standing" (me sa ba do kpei da sy ka sa). Relaxed arms and relaxed legs fulfill this demand. And the outstretched arms are seen as positive, as if to embrace [a person].

Wood and metal

16 9/16 x 5 1/4 x 4 1/8 in. (42 x 13.4 x 10.5 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.257

Provenance: Collection of Ross Widen, Cleveland, Ohio; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1967; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Photo: Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 8-9, reproduced pl. 10 (as standing female).

Seattle, 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]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 30-31, reproduced pl. 7.

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