Female Figure, 20th century

  • Akan, African

Wood, gold, silver, and paint

  • Overall: 24 × 14 1/2 × 7 1/2 inches (61 × 36.8 × 19.1 cm)

Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art

76.94

On View

  • African, Level 1, North

Department

African Art

This pose mimics a dance posture, and the sculpture was probably used as part of a stage set used by a popular band when playing to celebrate births, weddings, and funerals. The aristocratic high forehead and dramatic angling of arms and legs of this dynamic figure identify it as Brong.

Jay C. Leff. (Furman Gallery)

1976-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Detroit Collects African Art. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, April 21-May 29, 1977, no. 59. Bulletin of the DIA 56 (1977-AR): p. 58 (ill.). African Masterworks In The Detroit Institute of Arts. Washington and London: The Detroit Institute of Arts and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, cat. no. 25. Quarcoopome, Nii. “Akan Wood Sculpture,” Bulletin of the DIA 91, 1-4 (2017): p. 104 (fig. 5.28).

Akan, African, Female Figure, 20th century, wood, gold, silver, and paint. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art, 76.94.