Male Brass Genre Figure
date: label: Accession Date
content: 25 Apr 1994
label: Collection Date
content: 1956
name: label: Collector
content: Katharine Swift
label: Donor Name
content: Katharine Swift
notes: label: Notes
content: STANDING MALE FIGURE HAS LEFT FOOT FORWARD, LEFT HAND RAISED AT RIGHT ANGLE TO BODY. RIGHT HAND IS RAISED ABOVE HEAD HOLDING A STAFF W/ A CROOKED END & A KNOB AT THE BENT AREA. FIGURE WEARS A KNEE-LENGTH WRAPPER THAT LEAVES THE RIGHT SHOULDER BARED & AN INCISED OUTLINE OF A NECKLACE. WRAPPER HAS INCISED OVAL DESIGN. WEARS CONICAL HAT W/ FLAT TOP, ALSO HAS SAME INCISED OVAL DESIGN. STYLIZED FACIAL FEATURES W/ INCISED DETAILS. ACCORDING TO MARY JO ARNOLDI, CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY, BRASS CASTING & BRASS FIGURES ARE A LONG STANDING CRAFT SPECIALIZATION IN THIS AREA. BRASS FIGURES WERE CAST FOR USE ON COMMEMORATIVE STAFFS CALLED "ASEN" FOR THE FUNERALS OF IMPORTANT ELDER MEN & WOMEN. THESE STAFFS OFTEN INCLUDED GENRE FIGURES SIMILAR TO THIS ONE, WHICH WAS MADE FOR THE TOURIST TRADE.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 Nov 2014
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Abomey, Benin, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Fon
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 400212
label: USNM Number
content: E427935-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Figure
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 14.5 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 7.5 cm
label: Height - Lie On Side
content: 7 cm