The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 4, 2023

Lamellophone (chisanji)

late 1800s

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Angola, Chokwe-style maker

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 (pombeiro) engaged in long-distance commerce.

Provenance
1915
(F. M. Rapp, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
1915-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Brincard, Marie-Thérèse. Sounding Forms: African Musical Instruments. 1989.
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
Bourgeois, Arthur P, et al. Sounding Forms : African Musical Instruments. Edited by Brincard Marie-Thérèse. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1989. Reproduced: p. 131, fig. 74.
Chanda, Jacqueline. African Arts & Cultures. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, 1993. P. 75
Jordán, Manuel, and Marie Louise Bastin. Chokwe!: Art and Initiation Among the Chokwe and Related Peoples. Munich: Prestel, 1998.
Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. reproduced: fig. 2, p. 13
Chemeche, George, and John Pemberton. The Horse Rider in African Art. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2011. p. 106
Berzock, Kathleen Bickford, and Christa Clarke. Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011. Reproduced: p. 105, fig. 5.1
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
Roberts, Allen F., Tom Joyce, Marla Berns, William Joseph Dewey, Henry John Drewal, Candice Lee Goucher, and Rowland Abiodun. Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths. Los Angeles, California: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2019. Reproduced: p. 427, fig. 17.3; discussed: p. 430.
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