Shrine Sculpture to the God Legba, in the Form of a Fishing Fetish

CultureAfrican

Date19th century

MediumCarved wood

DimensionsOverall: 61 3/4 × 12 3/4 × 4 3/4 inches (156.85 × 32.39 × 12.07 cm)

Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. George A. Colom

Object number79-55.1-33

On View

Not on view

Collections

African Art

Terms

DescriptionAltarpiece, possible a fishing or war fetish, in the form of a large boat in the form of a sea monster with open mouth and large, bared teeth, mounted on a four-legged animal with long legs, resembling horses' hooves. There are nine figures in the boat, three of whom are hurling what appear to be thunderbolts (some represented as tridents), while the other six, three of whom are seated, hold oars. A large chain runs from underneath the front part of the boat to the top of a human head inserted in the front of the monster's head. A very large and ornate rudder of openwork form with a transverse from which are suspended what appear to be two, heavy weights, stands just in front of the lead figure in the boat. Old wood, with a crackled surface, the wood having at one time been covered with a gessolike material with traces of indigo blue pigment. At least two of the animal legs appear to be replacements.Provenance

Provenance

Purchased in Cotonou, Benin, by Tribal Arts Gallery, New York, by 1978 [1];

With Mathew Watson Gallery, Kansas City, MO, by January 1, 1978 [2];

Purchased from Mathew Watson Gallery by Dr. George A. and Mrs. Sachiko Endo (1930-2015) Colom, Fairway, KS, by February 27, 1978-1979 [3];

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1979.

NOTES:

[1] According to notes made by George H. Ulrich, Assistant Curator, Milwaukee Public Museum, following a telephone call with Albert F. Gordon, Tribal Arts Gallery, May 5, 1981, this object and several similar examples were acquired by Tribal Arts Gallery in a fishing village in the Ganvie area, near Cotonou, Benin. Leonard Kahan, L. Kahan Gallery Inc., who worked with Gordon and Tribal Arts Gallery at the time the objects were acquired, also wrote in a letter to Ulrich dated April 25, 1981, that these objects were purchased in Cotonou. Milwaukee Public Museum files. According to Nelson-Atkins Director Ralph T. Coe, in a letter to Ulrich, March 24, 1981, NAMA curatorial files, Coe knew of three Fon boats that had come to the United States through Leonard Kahan. Besides the Nelson-Atkins example, another was bought by dealer Robert Jones and sold to a private collector, and a third is in the Milwaukee Public Museum, accession no. 25933 55.

[2] This object appears in a photograph in Marietta Dunn, “Getting to Know About ‘Primitive’ Art,” The Kansas City Star (January 1, 1978), 12D.

[3] A copy of an appraisal for the object, dated February 27, 1978, is in the NAMA Registration file.

Published References

Marietta Dunn, “Getting to Know About ‘Primitive’ Art,” The Kansas City Star (January 1, 1978), 12D, (repro.).

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