In contrast to the calm dignity of the Kom nobleman nearby, this squat figure is subsumed by his task-he ends up with no neck and with legs pooling around his hefty torso. Above him, a stand once held a calabash of palm wine, a drink specially offered during ceremonies.
Wood
12 7/16 x 10 7/8 x 10 3/16 in. (31.6 x 27.7 x 25.9 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.726
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. 92, 95, reproduced pl. 128 (as figure supporting stand).
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.
