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Personal Shrine for a Man (ikenga)
Personal Shrine for a Man (ikenga)
Courtesy of the Harn Museum of Art, Photography by Foad Seyed Mohammadi

Personal Shrine for a Man (ikenga)

Maker Igbo Artist , Ahoada area
Date20th century
Place of originNigeria, Africa
MediumWood, fiber, patina
Dimensions8 x 2 x 2 5/8 in. (20.3 x 5.1 x 6.7 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of the Center for African Studies with additional funds provided through Arnett purchase and a grant
Object numberS-77-14
Collections
Visual DescriptionAbstract head with winged horns
Antelope with tall ears, slightly curving horns, carved linear design, and encrustation.
Edo Artist
Early 20th Century
Figure seated on a stool, holding knife and head, with scarifications, surmounted by a tall projection with heads and birds and with pigments
Igbo Artist
20th century
Mask with two human faces carved on the sides; slender head projection at the front; long ears and horns; black and red pigment; patina.
Igbo Artist
20th century
Box in the form of an antelope head, with long snout, curving horns, pointed ears and encrustation.
Edo Artist
undated
Carved wooden figure of abstracted male antelope with two horns, curled tail, metal ring on neck, incised head and body; carinated, bent legs; elliptical ear pierced with yellow tassels, one ear missing, tassel in nose; basketry base with cords attached.
Bamana Artist
late 19th-early 20th century
Double-tiered disk-shaped platforms that are surmounted by 6 (possibly young female) figures wearing pillbox style headgear, with bent knees and elbows, and hands with curled fingers; 3 of the identical figures are on either side of a large head with a helmet adorned with 4 spheres, and flanked below by mask-like faces with swirling hairdos. The head in the center, dominates the work and is inset between two vertical flanges. The bottom disk is perforated on the rim by 1/4 in holes all around. T…
Igbo Artist
19th century
Bulky helmet mask with carved teeth, long curving horns, bulbous eyes, and decorated with red and black pigments and encrustation.
Yoruba Artist
undated
Mask with slightly open mouth; red and black pigments; geometric designs.
Igbo Artist
undated
Stylized upright figure with arms at side and upraised palms, featuring a beard, facial scarifications and a rounded headdress.
Igbo Artist
20th Century
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