Comb

CultureAshanti or Akan

MediumWood

DimensionsOverall: 8 7/8 × 3 × 1 3/8 inches (22.54 × 7.62 × 3.49 cm)

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

Object number2025.56.12

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionThis comb is carved from a single piece of wood and features eight long, evenly spaced teeth. Above the teeth, the shaft is decorated with squares in a checkerboard-style pattern. The pattern consists of two alternating designs: one with diagonal crosshatched lines and the other with an "X" geometric design or diagonal "cross-in-square" motif. The handle portion of the comb is carved with a human figure lying on its back, legs bent, and arms upraised, adorned with what appears to be a necklace or adornment around the neck. The knees and arms support a platform upon which a stylized bird figure is perched.Provenance

Provenance

With Peter Furst, by 2010;

Purchased from Furst by Ralph T. Coe (1929-2010), Santa Fe, NM, by 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 documentation provided by the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts at the time of the object’s gift, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files. This is most likely Peter T. Furst (1922-2015), a cultural anthropologist who worked with the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Art and Archaeology, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM, and the State University of New York in Albany.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.