Images(3)

Ring

Date20th century

Label TextAsante instill meanings in what can seem to be mundane objects: the forms of peanuts, grubs, porcupines, knots and seed pods appear in golden splendor. Proverbs behind the rings suggest the wisdom in the ordinary. A peanut refers to: "If you want to plant something for me, plant peanuts, not corn." This is a wish for a permanent relationship-peanuts remain in the ground and form vines, whereas corn is uprooted and destroyed every season.

Object number81.17.406

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, organized by the Seattle Art Museum, 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). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 78-79, reproduced pl. 39 (as Peanut ring, misnumbered as 81.17.400). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Lessons from the Institute of Empathy, Mar. 31, 2018 - ongoing.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions1 1/8 x 1 1/8 x 1 5/8 in. (2.9 x 2.9 x 4.1 cm)

MediumGold