Fly whisk
date: label: Date
content: Mid-19th century
name: label: Maker
content: Amhara artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: In most of Africa, flywhisks were carried as prestige regalia and during masquerades. They emphasized both gestures and spoken words. Their materials tended to be made of inherantly status conferring materials. For example this flywhisk that was once owned by Emperor Theodor (1855-1868) of Ethiopia is made of richly dyed horsehair. The horse is associated with military success and is valued in direct relationship with how difficult horses are to maintain in tse tse fly infested regions.
label: Description
content: Fly whisk composed of a bone handle, flared at the ends and yellow at the whisk end. The whisk is of hair, probably horse hair, dyed deep red with a yellow center and a deep red tip.
label: Provenance
content: Collection of Emperor Theodor (1855-1868) of Ethiopia
label: Provenance
content: Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1989
label: Content Statement
content: 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 Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks.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.
label: Image Requests
content: 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/
place: label: Geography
content: Ethiopia
topic: label: Topic
content: Status
label: Topic
content: Male use
label: Topic
content: male
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Acquisition grant from the James Smithson Society
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 89-8-41
objectType: label: Type
content: Textile and Fiber Arts
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Bone, hair, plant fiber
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 39.8 x 5.6 x 3.1 cm (15 11/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 1/4 in.)