Brass Male 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 IS NAILED TO SQUARE WOODEN BASE THROUGH BOTTOM OF FEET. FIGURE'S FEET ARE APART. LEFT HAND IS RAISED TO BALANCE ROUND HOLLOW JAR ON HEAD. RIGHT HAND IS STRETCHED OUT IN FRONT. FIGURE IS HALF-NAKED, WEARING A KNEE-LENGTH SKIRT, & AN INCISED OUTLINE OF A V-SHAPED NECKLACE. HAS STYLIZED FACIAL FEATURES. SKIRT & JAR HAVE INCISED CURVILINEAR DESIGNS. INCISED LINES HAVE WHITE RESIDUES. 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: E427933-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Figure
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 17.5 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 7 cm
label: Height - Lie On Side
content: 5.3 cm