The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 21, 2023

Bowharp

by 1928

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu-style maker

Wood, rawhide, plant fiber, metal, and glass bead

Handle: 36.9 cm (14 1/2 in.); Drum: 18.2 cm (7 3/16 in.)

Gift of the African Art Sponsors of Karamu House 1929.344

Location

not on view

Description

Although five-stringed melodic harps with anthropomorphic decorations are found among different peoples in northern Congo, the elongated skull of this work is characteristic of the Mangbetu. Such instruments commonly served to accompany songs by either male or female musicians. Cleveland artist Paul Travis acquired this work and some others during his travels in Central Africa in 1928.

Provenance
1928
Acquired by Paul Travis on behalf of the African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players in Ekibondo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (then-Belgian Congo) 1
1928
The African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players 2
1929–
The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift

Provenance Footnotes

1 Boger, Ann C. et al. Paul B. Travis Africa 1927-1928. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. PP. 32–33, 35, 47.
2 12/3/1928 letter to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History from Hazel Mountain Walker (Gilpin Players, president) and Harry E. Davis (African Art Sponsors, president) reproduced on p. 54 of Adams, Henry et al. Paul Travis 1891-1975. Cleveland Artists Foundation, 2001.
Citations
Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: fig. 3, p. 14
Petridis, Constantijn, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, Ohio : Cleveland Museum of art ; Milan : 5 Continents Editions, 2013. Mentioned: p. 107; reproduced: p. 109, fig. 69
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. 106.
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.344