Bird Mask (Man na Gle)
Label TextHolding flywhisks and waving them gently, the wearer of such a bird mask would be accompanied by an orchestra as he danced and sang in tribute to two birds: the hornbill, a large bird thought to bring prized palm nuts to the Dan people and the parakeet, a bird skilled at cracking the nuts open.
Object number81.17.196
Provenance[J. J. Klejman 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 HistoryCleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. no. 59 (as Baboon Mask).
Los 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. 159-60, reproduced pl. 195 (as "To-la-ge" mask).
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, organized by the Seattle Art Museum, 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). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 189-90, reproduced pl. 83.Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela. African Art: From Crocodiles to Convertibles in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1987; cat. no. 14, pp. 26-27, reproduced (as Mask (Gagon)).
Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures, London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 48Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions13 3/8 x 5 1/4 x 7 in. (33.9 x 13.3 x 17.8 cm)
MediumWood and metal
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