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Head of a Hobbyhorse

late 1800s-early 1900s

Western Sudan, Mali, Bamana, late 19th-early 20th century

Wood and iron

Overall: 40.7 cm (16 in.)

James Albert Ford Memorial Fund 1935.307

Location

108A Sub-Saharan

Description

Pertaining to the male initiation society called Korè, this sculpture from the Koulikoro region represents the head of an aardvark and is part of a wooden hobbyhorse that is mounted by a ritual buffoon. The Korè initiates are divided into different classes, each having a designated mask. The ritual buffoons appear in pantomimes on different public occasions and poke fun at village authorities and other high-ranking individuals.

Provenance

Louis Carré, Paris, before 1935.

Louis Carré, Paris

Citations

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), and James Johnson Sweeney. African Negro Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1935. Mentioned p. 31; Reproduced pl. 10

Flint Institute of Arts. Art Marches on!: The Opening and Dedicating Exhibition of the New Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan, November 14-December 13, 1941. Flint, Mich: The Institute, 1941. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 25

Radin, Paul, and James Johnson Sweeney. African Folktales & Sculpture. New York: Pantheon Books, 1952. Mentioned: p. 343; Reproduced: pl. 36

Radin, Paul, and James Johnson Sweeney. African Folktales & Sculpture. New York: Pantheon Books, 1952. Mentioned p. 343; Reproduced pl. 36

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 385 archive.org

Plass, Margaret. The African Image: A New Selection of Tribal Art : the Toledo Museum of Art ... February 1 Through 22, 1959 : Introduction and Catalogue. [Toledo, Ohio]: The Museum, 1959. Reproduced: p. 10, no. 25

New York (N.Y.), and Robert Goldwater. Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan. New York: distributed by University Publishers, 1960. Mentioned p. 20; Reproduced p. 33, pl. 37

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 302 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 302 archive.org

Sweeney, James Johnson. African Sculpture. [Princeton, N.J.]: Princeton University Press, 1970. Mentioned: p. 186; Reproduced: pl. 36

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 410 archive.org

Webb, Virginia-Lee, and Walker Evans. Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Reproduced p. 95, no. 57

Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011. Mentioned: p. 111-112; Reproduced: p. 112, fig. 5.6

Exhibition history

NY, Museum of Modern Art, 1935-1936: African Negro Art, cat. no. 10, repr. pl. 10, (also to CMA 9/27 - 10/27, 1935), and tour.

Flint, MI, Flint Institute of Arts, 1941: Art Marches On!, November 14-December 31, 1941, cat. no. 43, repr.

Toledo, OH, Toledo Museum of Art, 1959: The African Image, cat. no. 25, repr. p. 30.

NY: Museum of Primitive Art, 1960: Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan, cat. no. 53, repr. pl. 37.

NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 2/1/00 - 9/3/00, exh. cat. no. 18, p. 68.

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

Exhibition of the Month: Design in Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 31, 1946-February 10, 1947).

Primitive to Contemporary Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 6-October 31, 1956).

Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (February 1-September 3, 2000).

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{{cite web|title=Head of a Hobbyhorse|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1935.307|year=late 1800s-early 1900s|access-date=03 April 2020|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Head of a Hobbyhorse

Head of a Hobbyhorse

Western Sudan, Mali, Bamana, late 19th-early 20th century

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