Images(2)

Figurative Weight (abrammuo): Birds

Label TextThis weight, depicting a mass of birds on a tree, suggests the proverb "The woodpeckers hope the silk-cotton tree will die," meaning if the tree dies, grubs will fill the rotting wood and give the woodpeckers more food; one man's downfall is another man's gain.

Object number81.17.362

Provenance[Julius Carlebach Gallery, New York]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1961; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistorySeattle, 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. 82, reproduced pl. 46. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Lessons from the Institute of Empathy, Mar. 31, 2018 - ongoing.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions2 3/4 x 7/8 x 7/8 in. (7 x 2.2 x 2.2 cm)

MediumCopper alloy