Figure

CultureYoruba peoples

Date18th century

MediumMetal

DimensionsOverall: 17 1/2 × 4 × 4 inches (44.45 × 10.16 × 10.16 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number81-18

On View

Not on view

Collections

African Art

Terms

DescriptionThe figure has a very large coiffeur in two conical shaped vertical projections. He sits with hands on knees, spread legs, on a typical Nigerian seat or throne. The base with rings projecting outwards from the edge, still retains some of the original bells. Because of its large size, that it is a single, seated figure, and that bells ring the base, it is apparent that the casting is that of an important person.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Der Ogboni Geheimbund: Bronzen aus Südwest-Nigeria, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, The Netherlands, 1976.

Provenance

Bernd Muhlack (1937-2020), Kiel, Germany [1];

Purchased from Muhlack by the dealer Robert L. Stolper, Munich, London and New York, stock no. 13459, by 1976-1981 [2];

Purchased from Stolper by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1981.

NOTES:

[1] According to Robert L. Stolper, in a letter to Martha Stout, Registrar, July 12, 1982, NAMA curatorial files, Stolper acquired this object from Bernd Muhlack in Kiel, who worked for a lumber company in Africa. Muhlack was a well-known collector of African art.

[2] Stolper had several galleries in cities across the United States and Europe. Stolper Galleries, Munich lent this object to the Der Ogboni Geheimbund exhibition in 1976. Stolper’s invoice to the Nelson-Atkins was issued under the heading Interiors & Primitives, Ltd., New York, and a letter from Stolper to Ralph T. Coe, Director, November 10, 1980, NAMA curatorial files, came from Stolper’s London address.

Published References

Th. A. H. M. Dobbelmann, Der Ogboni Geheimbund: Bronzen aus Sudwest-Nigeria, exh. cat. (Berg en Dal, The Netherlands: Afrika Museum, 1976), unpaginated, (repro. fig. 114).

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