Description
This male ritual head bears the crossed coiffure and regal, elongated face with arched brows and almond-shaped eyes that are characteristic of Hemba sculpture. The fur attached to the base of this sculpture is not original. This sculpture was possibly once kept in a basket or gourd and would have been used by the head of the clan to foster communication between the living and the ancestral realm.
Provenance
Jay N. Whipple, Jr. (died 2018) and Anne Reisse Whipple, Lake Forest, Ill., by 1999; given to the Art Institute, 1999.
Accession Number
152859
Medium
Wood, animal fur (contemporary facsimile based on period examples), and twine
Dimensions
33.1 × 17.8 × 13.4 cm (13 × 7 × 5 1/4 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Credit Line
Gift of Anne Reisse Whipple and Jay Whipple in memory of Wilbur Tuggle
