The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 7, 2022

Thumb Piano

late 1800s

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo or Angola, Chokwe peoples

Wood, iron, and wire

Overall: 19.1 x 10.2 x 6.4 cm (7 1/2 x 4 x 2 1/2 in.)

The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund 1915.495

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The CMA acquired this plucky instrument in 1915, one year before it opened to the public.

Description

The thumb piano portrays a wonderfully animated man riding a curious quadruped. His hat suggests he is probably a trader.

Provenance
1915
(F. M. Rapp, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
1915-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Wixom, WIlliam D. "African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art." In African Arts. 10, no. 3. (April 1977): 16-25. Mentioned: p. 16; reproduced: p. 19 www.jstor.org
Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. reproduced: fig. 2, p. 13
Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display, edited by Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011. Mentioned: p. 104; reproduced: p. 105, fig. 5.1
Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019 Reproduced: p. 18, fig. 1; mentioned: p. 19 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019 Reproduced: p. 18, fig. 1; mentioned: p. 19. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
Exhibition history

The National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC, Sounding Forms: African Musical Instruments, April 23-June 18, 1989, repr. p. 131, fig. 74. Also to: Richmond, VA, The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, July 16-September 10, 1989; Kansas City, MO, Nelson Atkins Museum, October 7-November 26, 1989; Paris, France, Musée des Arts Africains, January 6-March 3, 1990.

Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama (November 1, 1998-January 3,1999), Baltimore Museum of Art (June 13-September 5, 1999), The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (October 24, 1999-January 16, 2000)."Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples"

Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (6/3/2018-12/30/2018), National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (2/10/2019-10/20/2019), and Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (11/10/2019-3/29/2020): "Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths"

Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples. Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL (organizer) (November 1, 1998-January 3, 1999); The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (June 13-September 5, 1999); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN (October 24, 1999-January 16, 2000).

Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (June 3-December 30, 2018); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (February 10-October 20, 2019); Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (November 10, 2019-August 16, 2020).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1915.495