Door from Shrine for deity Shango

CultureYoruba peoples

Date19th century

MediumWood and metal

DimensionsOverall: 52 × 19 3/8 × 1 5/8 inches (132.08 × 49.2 × 4.14 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the Esther Clark Garnett Fund and the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund

Object number98-11

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

African Art

Terms

DescriptionA carved wooden panel divided into five registers depicting human figures, water spirits with fish tails, animals, and objects. An iron hinge is nailed to the back lower part of the proper right side, an iron deadbolt is nailed to the back bottom edge, and an iron loop is nailed to the front center of the proper left side. There is a narrow piece of wood which has been secured into an area along the proper left edge of the door to replace a missing piece of wood from the door.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

This masterfully carved door once opened into a shrine dedicated to Shangó, Yoruba king and god of thunder, lightening and seasonal rains. This volatile deity is capable of taking life with a bolt of lightening as well as bestowing abundance upon a community. Both Shangó shrines and the palaces of Yoruba kings include elaborately carved doors such as this. Shangó's mother, the water deity Yemaya, appears twice in its central register with her fish's tail. Four stone celts (a prehistoric ax-like tool), created when Shangó's thunderbolts strike earth, appear at the center of this register, attesting to Shangó's power.

Provenance

With an unknown New York dealer, 1969;

Purchased from the unknown New York dealer by Drs. John and Nicole Dintenfass, New York, NY, 1969-1998 [1];

Purchased from Drs. John and Nicole Dintenfass, through Donald Morris Gallery, New York, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1998.

NOTES:

[1] According to Donald Morris Gallery, in documentation provided at the time of the Nelson-Atkins purchase, NAMA curatorial files, the door was acquired by John and Nicole Dintenfass in 1969. This was confirmed by Dr. John Dintenfass, in conversation with MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, November 29, 2021. Dintenfass also confirmed he purchased the door from a dealer in New York.

Published References

Barbara Guggenheim, “A Yoruba Sango-Shrine Door,” African Arts 7, no. 1 (Autumn 1973), 47-49, 88-89, (repro.).

Newsletter (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, November 1998), cover, 2, (repro.).

Joyce M. Youmans, “African Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,” African Arts 33, no. 4 (Winter 2000), 49, 54, (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 247, (repro.).

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.