Ancestral Screen

late 19th century

Ijo, African

On View

African, Level 1, North Wing

Ancestral Screen: 1 of Collection Gallery

Ancestral Screen: 2 of Collection Gallery

Ancestral Screen: 3 of Collection Gallery

Ancestral Screen: 4 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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Provenance

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Ancestral screens, or nduein fobara (meaning “forehead of the dead”), are important cultural relics among the Ijo people of the Kalabari region. This rare screen is attributed to the Pokia artisans of Abonnema village located in the River Niger’s delta, a major center in the African trade with Europeans in which Kalabari traders played a strategic role for nearly five centuries. Until the twentieth century, such screens were kept by the male-dominated Ekine ruling society to honor deceased chiefs or founders of trade houses. When an important male died, a screen was made to house his spirit, which resided in his forehead. Here, the ancestor, flanked by family members, is depicted in the European tailcoat and top hat worn by wealthy Kalabari traders. The format may have been inspired by European book illustrations and photography brought to the delta region by European merchants. From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title Ancestral Screen

Artwork Date late 19th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. African

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Ijo

Medium Iroko wood, earth pigments, plant fibers, and metal

Dimensions Overall: 48 × 35 × 15 inches (121.9 × 88.9 × 38.1 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African Art

Credit Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2003.21

Markings

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Provenance

(Davis Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)

2003-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Provenance page

Exhibition History

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Suggest Feedback

Published References

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Ijo, African, Ancestral Screen, late 19th century, iroko wood, earth pigments, plant fibers, and metal. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 2003.21.