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SAM'S collection
Photo: Paul Macapia
Figure supporting bowl
Photo: Paul Macapia

Figure supporting bowl

Label TextBefore entering royal residences, visitors might be required to dip into this bowl to obtain kaolin. A fine white clay with important medicinal properties, kaolin also signified loyalty, purity, and ritual respect for the spirit world. It was spread on visitors' arms and faces and on the ground before the king. The woman who supports the bowl is lean and capable, seemingly ready to vault from her spring-like legs to assist her ruler.
Object number81.17.875
Provenance[Berkeley Galleries, London, England]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1971; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia
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., p. 94, reproduced pl. 129. 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. 52, 54, reproduced pl. 32.
Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions19 1/2 x 12 3/4 x 10 in. (49.5 x 32.4 x 25.4 cm)
MediumWood
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.1675
Congolese
Object number: 2001.955
Congolese
Object number: 2001.962
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.795
Stool
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.801
Double-headed cup
Congolese
20th century
Object number: 81.17.827
Ladle
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.844
Cup
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.845
Razor box (Ngum Akyeeng)
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.846
Cup bearer (Mboko, Kabila)
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.872
Kihona (stool)
Congolese
Object number: 81.17.876