About the Artwork
This beautiful headrest made by the Yaka of Zaire supported the wearer's neck so that his or her elaborate coiffure would not be destroyed while sleeping. The headrest is supported on the back of a pangolin (also called the scaly anteater) whose scaly body is suggested by the many brass studs. This animal was sacred to many people in Zaire for its extraordinary appearance and for its ability to roll itself up in a hard ball to prevent harm from even such a powerful enemy as a leopard. Pangolin scales are used as protective charms against evil.
Headrest
between 1850 and 1950
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African
Yaka
Wood, brass studs, copper and brass wire
Overall: 6 7/8 × 9 1/2 inches (17.5 × 24.1 cm)
Sculpture
African Art
Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art
78.76
Copyright not assessed, please contact [email protected].
Markings
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Provenance
George Ortiz
Baron F. Rolin (Brussels, Belgium). (Morton, Gallery Lipkin, New York, New York, USA)
1978-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
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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George Ortiz Collection. Sales cat., Sotheby Parke-Bernet. New York, June 29, 1978, lot 51, (ill.).
“Family Art Game,” Detroit News (May 18, 1986): p. 33 (ill.) [DIA Advertising Supplement].
African Masterworks In The Detroit Institute of Arts. Washington and London, 1995, no. 65.
At Home in Africa: Design, Beauty and Pleasing Irregularity in Domestic Settings. Exh. cat., the Galleries at Cleveland State University. Cleveland, 2014, p. 13, 16 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Yaka, African, Headrest, between 1850 and 1950, wood, brass studs, copper and brass wire. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art, 78.76.
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