Male figure

Object Details

Mbala artist

Label Text

This drummer figure has been displayed as part of the Tishman collection since 1966. Because of the subject matter it has always been identified as Mbala, since the rare Mbala statues either portray mother and child figures or drummers. The style of the drummer's face however is not typical of known Mbala sculptures although the hairstyle and active pose with the drum do relate to other examples. Just as the living drummer accompanies the village chief, the figure of the drummer would have been kept with the chief's regalia in a special storage house.

Description

Wood figure of a drummer.

Exhibition History

The Inner Eye: Vision and Transcendence in African Arts, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, February 26-July 9, 2017

Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016

For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981

Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 16, 1968-January 5, 1969; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, August 31-November 1, 1970; University of Texas College of Fine Arts, Austin; City Art Museum, St. Louis, August 20-October 17, 1971; Des Moines Art Center; Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV

Masterpieces of African Art: Tishman Collection, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1967

Arts connus et arts méconnus de l'Afrique noire, Collection Paul Tishman, Musee de l'Homme, Paris, 1966

Published References

Arts connus et arts méconnus de l'Afrique noire, Collection Paul Tishman, Musee de l'Homme, Paris, 1966, no. 121 (not illustrated).

Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 232, pl. 123.

Muze'on Yisra'el. 1967. Masterpieces of African Art: Tishman Collection. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, no. 166 (not illustrated).

Sieber, Roy and Arnold Rubin. 1968. Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, no. 145.

Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 226, no. 138.

Content Statement

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Credit Line

Gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

Late 19th-early 20th century

Object number

2005-6-186

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Figure

Medium

Wood

Dimensions

H x W x D: 29.8 x 41.6 x 15.9 cm (11 3/4 x 16 3/8 x 6 1/4 in.)

Geography

Democratic Republic of the Congo

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Topic

musical instrument

male

Record ID

nmafa_2005-6-186

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7794d8239-ca6a-4f17-b139-81f9c812b2b0