Headdress in the Form of a Female Figure (Ogbom)

early 20th century

African Art

By appointment, Wurtele Study Center
Medium

Wood from the Apocynaceae tree family

Dimensions

27 × 6 1/4 × 6 3/4 in. (68.58 × 15.88 × 17.15 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Osborn for the Linton Collection of African Art

Accession Number

1954.28.14

Geography

Ozuitem, Nigeria

Culture

Igbo or Ibibio

Period

20th century

Classification

Masks

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Dr. Jack Sargent Harris (1912–2008), Ozuitem, Nigeria, by 1939 [see note 1]; sold to Dr. Ralph Linton (1893–1953) by 1950 [see note 2]; by descent to his wife, Adelin Hohlfield Linton (1899–1977); sold to Marie-Louise Montgomery Osborn (1905–1968) and James Marshall Osborn (1906–1976), 1954; given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.,1954

Note 1: Dr. Jack Sargent Harris was one of the first American anthropologists to conduct fieldwork in Africa. This work was featured in the 1956 exhibition African Tribal Sculpture. In the accompanying publication (Plass 1956) Plass states the piece was collected by Dr. Jack Sargent Harris during a year long study of the Ibo, at the village of Ozuitem, Nigeria, before the start of World War II.

Note 2: Ralph Linton was the Sterling Professor of Anthropology at Yale from 1946 until his death in 1953.


Bibliography
  • Herbert M. Cole, Igbo (Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013), 135, fig. 46
  • Herbert M. Cole and Chike C. Aniakor, Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos (Los Angeles, CA: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 1984), 175, fig. 292
  • Ralph Linton, The Linton Collection of African Sculpture: An Exhibition, March 13 through April 18, 1954, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1954), no. 47, ill
  • Paul Wingert, The Sculpture of Negro Africa (New York: Columbia University Press, 1950), 39, fig. 47
Object copyright
Copyright Undetermined
Additional information

Object/Work type

ceremonial objects, figures (representations), headdress, headgear, sculpture

Subject

women

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