Images(3)

Male harp

Label TextMusicians held these harps so the faces watched their every move and kept them company. With legs flexed and stomachs filled with sound, this dancing harp couple probably traveled with a pair of professional performers who sang legendary epics and recited history as their livelihood.

Object number81.17.882.2

Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. nos. 279, 280, reproduced. Los 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. XII-XIII, reproduced pl. 1 (as harp). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Praise Poems: The Katherine White Collection, July 29 - Sept. 29, 1984 (Washington, D.C., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 31, 1984 - Feb. 25, 1985; Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, Apr. 6 - May 19, 1985; Fort Worth, Texas, Kimbell Art Museum, Sept. 7 - Nov. 25, 1985; Kansas City, Missouri, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Mar. 8 - Apr. 20, 1986). Text by Pamela McClusky. Cat. no. 6, pp. 20-21, reproduced (as Pair of male and female harps). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Untold Story, Nov. 14, 2003 - Nov. 14, 2004.Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela. "Art of Africa." In Selected Works, pp. 35-52. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1991; p. 41, reproduced.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions26 11/16 x 5 7/8 x 13 3/8 in. (67.8 x 15 x 34 cm)

MediumWood, skin, and fabric