Comb

CultureTchokwe

Dateca. 1920

MediumWood

DimensionsOverall: 6 × 2 3/8 × 3/4 inches (15.24 × 6.03 × 1.91 cm)

Credit LineGift of Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, 2025

Object number2025.56.6

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionTchokwe combs are commonly carved with various social and religious themes. In this case, an elaborately scene is carved illustrating two individuals carrying what appears to be a deceased or ill child. Just below the figures, low relief decorative carving in the classic Tchokwe style is represented on both sides of the comb.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Mirror Effect: Reflections upon our Realities, Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM, May-July, 2017.

Provenance

With Taylor Dale Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, by August 4, 2001;

Purchased from Taylor Dale Gallery by Ralph T. Coe (1929-2010), Santa Fe, NM, August 4, 2001-2010 [1];

His bequest to the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM, 2010-2025;

The Coe Center's gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2025.

NOTES:

[1] According to object documentation provided by the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts at the time of the object's gift, see Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.

Published References

Oscar Loya, Dynette Chavez, Heaven Talachy, Gailene Morgan, Ashyln Lovato, Danielle Cata, Elizabeth Lukee, and Shante Toledo, The Mirror Effect: Reflections upon our Realities (Santa Fe: Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, 2017), 13, (repro.).

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