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Dance Staff (ifia)

Dance Staff (ifia)

Unknown

The elaborate hairstyle and facial decorations depict a beautiful married woman, Ngyema, a character in the Kuyu origin story. During kebe kebe masquerades, a dancer, concealed within a full body costume attached below the figure’s neck, enlivened the performance by manipulating the staff up and down.
Artist
Unknown (Congolese, Kuyu People)
Title
Dance Staff (ifia)
Date
late 19th-early 20th century
Medium
Wood, brass, and pigment
Dimensions
27 3/4 x 9 in. diam Overall
Credit
J. David and Laura Seefried Horsfall Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
1997.27
Classification
Sculpture
Geography
Democratic Republic of Congo

Related

By 1990, with Gallery DeRoche (San Francisco, CA); 1997, sold by Gallery DeRoche (San Francisco, CA) to the Elvehjem Art Museum [now called the Chazen Museum of Art] (Madison, WI)

  • Exhibition gallery guide, "Revealing Forms: African Art from the Elvehjem Collection." 2002.
  • Drewal, Henry John. "African Art at the Elvehjem." Bulletin/Biennial Report 2001-2003. Elvehjem Museum of Art (2003): 16-36. pp. 16-36
  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Bulletin/Biennial Report 1995-1997." Madison: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 1998. p. 135
  • Dagan, E. A. "Emotions in Motion: Theatrical Puppets and Masks from Black Africa" (Montreal: Galerie Amrad African Arts, 1990) 98, cat. no. 127a
  • Chazen Museum of Art. "re:mancipation." Madison, WI: Chazen Museum of Art, 2024. pp. 81, 158

  • re:mancipation: Chazen Museum of Art, 2/6/2023–6/25/2023
  • Revealing Forms: African Art from the Collection: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 4/20/2002–6/16/2002

The Chazen Museum of Art welcomes comments or inquiries about works in our collection. Please allow two–three weeks for a response. Chazen staff is not able to provide valuations or authentications and such inquiries cannot be answered.

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