Artwork Page for Pendant: Face

Details / Information for Pendant: Face

Pendant: Face

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, possibly Baule-style goldsmith

Medium
Gold
Measurements
Overall: 7.6 x 5 cm (3 x 1 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1954.602
Public Domain
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Location
108C African Jewelry and Metalwork
Print
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Did You Know?

The raised texture seen on the forehead are remains of the gating technique used to introduce molten metal into the mold during lost-wax casting and indicate that the surface was not highly finished after casting.

Description

Cast using the lost-wax method, gold objects are the only Baule art forms associated with ancestral spirits. Usually stored in suitcases or pots, a collection of gold adornments (aja) are displayed on important occasions such as funerals. They are laid out around the corpse before burial as a sign of respect and their family's wealth. Faces such as this pendant are said to be idealized portraits of friends or lovers. This depiction of a man has a beard and elaborately styled hair.
A gold pendant depicts a face tapering to a pointed chin with a pitted texture. Braided eyebrows meet above a long nose and heavy-lidded eyes. An openwork braided border crowns the head, flanked by two side loops. Below the mouth, a knobbed band curves toward the chin, terminating in a conical, coiled protrusion. Braided lines outline the outer edges, framing the elongated features.

Pendant: Face

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, possibly Baule-style goldsmith

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