About the Artwork
The Bamana tribe's Jo Association uses these figures as part of the initiation of young men into adulthood. After six years of instruction, a symbolic death is enacted and the young men are "reborn" as adults. Then, while dancing, the initiates hold these figures—whose large breasts and swelling abdomens allude to a young woman's capacity for childbearing—to advertise that they are now ready to take a wife.
Standing Female
between 19th and 20th century
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African
Bamana
Wood, copper, beads, and metal
Overall: 20 3/8 × 4 7/8 × 6 inches (51.8 × 12.4 × 15.2 cm)
Sculpture
African Art
Bequest of Robert H. Tannahill
70.46
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
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Provenance
estate of Robert H. Tannahill [1893-1969]
1970-present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Detroit Collects African Art. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, April 29-May 19, 1972, no. 8 (ill.).
African Masterworks In The Detroit Institute of Arts. Washington and London:The Detroit Institute of Arts and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, cat. no. 6.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Bamana, African, Standing Female, between 19th and 20th century, wood, copper, beads, and metal. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Robert H. Tannahill, 70.46.
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