Images(2)

Soul Washer's disc (akrafokonmu)

Date20th century

Label TextSuch discs protect the wearer from danger. The radiating pattern refers to the sun, which is the source of each person's kra-the spiritual essence given to a child at birth. They are worn by rulers, queen mothers and by individuals known as akrafo, or soul washers, who conduct ceremonies to purify leaders' souls.

Object number81.17.1685

Provenance[Charles Ratton, Paris, France]; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1972; 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., pp. 152-3, reproduced pl. 188 (as "soul" disk). Los Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, The Arts Of Ghana, Oct. 11 - Dec. 11, 1977 (Minneapolis, Minnesota, Walker Art Center, Feb. 11 - Mar. 26, 1978; Dallas, Texas, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, May 2 - July 2, 1978). Text by Herbert M. Cole and Doran H. Ross. No cat. no., p. 23, reproduced fig. 32. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988. 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. 108-9, reproduced pl. 59. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Lessons from the Institute of Empathy, Mar. 31, 2018 - ongoing.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

DimensionsDiameter: 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm)

MediumGold wash and silver core