Collection record · Objects & craft
Vessel
The collection record classifies this work as vessels. It is dated early 1900s. Recorded culture or place: Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu, early 20th century.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Vessel
- Date
- early 1900s
- Culture / origin
- Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu, early 20th century
- Materials and technique
- terracotta
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 17.1 cm (6 3/4 in.); Overall: 35 x 15.6 cm (13 3/4 x 6 1/8 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1992.69
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Women were and still are responsible for the making of terracotta pots among the Mangbetu. It seems, however, that men added the figurative elements that embellish examples like the one shown here. The depicted head with its elongated skull and halolike coiffure imitates the cranial deformation and hairstyle fashionable among female Mangbetu royalty at the beginning of the 20th century. Typically used for wine, many vessels were also explicitly made for sale to foreigners.
FOLLOW THE SOURCE
Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · The Mary Spedding Milliken Memorial Collection, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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