Images(2)

Seated Officer

Label Text"Such men cannot be fully accepted: they are bats, birds that seem like animals and yet they fly." (Fu Kiau Bunseki, 2001) A white officer wearing a tuxedo has been embellished with bilongo (effective materials) that cause his shoulders to swell into enormous epaulets. Reeds, which may contain gunpowder, are plastered onto the stomach with a resinous mass. Sealed with a mirror, this gland indicated the ritual expert's power to see beyond common surfaces and to penetrate secrets.

Object number81.17.835

Provenance[Gallery K, Los Angeles, California]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1978; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistorySeattle, 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. 23, pp. 54-55, reproduced (as Power figure (nkisi)). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Museum: Mixed Metaphors, Fred Wilson, Jan. 28 - June 13, 1993. 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., p. 157, reproduced pl. 76. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Emblems of Encounter: Europe and Africa over 500 Years, Jan. 23, 2016 - Jan. 29, 2023.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions9 1/2 x 5 3/16 x 4 1/2 in. (24.2 x 13.1 x 11.5 cm)

MediumWood, mirror, glass, chalk, camwood powder, and clay