Object Details
- Asante artist
- Label Text
- Among the Asante and neighboring peoples, voluntary music associations (ntan) provide entertainment for a variety of occasions, including weddings, funerals and festivals. Many of the motifs on these drums relate to Asante proverbs and suggest the qualities the society seeks in its members or to the society's relationship to the town. For example the use of a powerful animal such as an elephant, or on this drum a lion, refers to how the ntan group supports the town. The cocoa tree is typically associated with members that are farmers. One of the more unusual motifs on this drum is the elephant riding in a truck driven by an antelope. It is an updating of the earlier motif of an antelope atop an elephant. It may, like the British coat of arms on the front of the drum, refer to the mixing of traditional and colonial powers.
- Description
- Wood drum with hide drum head mounted on the back of a lion. Low relief of two figures seated at table, British coat of arms, equestrian, elephant, turtle, crossed crocodiles, sankofa, elephant in a truck, cocoa tree, crab, recumbant figure, and other various animals. Traces of metalic paint on lion and multi-colored paint overall.
- Provenance
- Emil J. Arnold, New York, -- to 1968
- Published References
- Ross, Doran (ed). 1992. Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 154, no. 7-24. (Drawing of detail of elephant in truck. Wrong accession number printed, 68-36-297.)
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Credit Line
- Gift of Emil Arnold
- Mid 20th century
- Object number
- 68-36-397
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Wood, hide, plant fiber, paint
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 118.4 x 53 x 62.9 cm (46 5/8 x 20 7/8 x 24 3/4 in.)
- Geography
- Ghana
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- National Museum of African Art
- Topic
- elephant
- crocodile
- lion
- turtle
- equestrian
- crab
- tree
- Male use
- sankofa
- male
- Record ID
- nmafa_68-36-397
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys75f255cb3-4d56-4b54-a864-a23dc10f244f
