Male Seated Figure

Description

This couple-extremely fine examples of their kind-may commemorate the marriage of an important person, such as a chief, but could also represent siblings of a chiefly family. Whatever their relationship, their unity is conveyed by their physical similarities, including their jewelry, which marks high social station. The female is unusual in nursing an infant, likely a reference to generational renewal and the continuation of noble bloodlines. The significance of the male’s activity-beating a turtle-shell drum- is not understood.

Provenance

Mrs. Alfred M. [Clara Taplin] Rankin [b. 1917], given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?–1998); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1998–)

Male Seated Figure

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100 BCE–300 CE

Accession Number

1998.83.2

Medium

ceramic

Dimensions

Average: 56 x 31.8 x 30.5 cm (22 1/16 x 12 1/2 x 12 in.)

Classification

Ceramic

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Clara Taplin Rankin