The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Pendant: Face in Diamond

1900s

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

Gold
Overall: 9.2 x 8.9 cm (3 5/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
James Albert Ford Memorial Fund 1942.171
Location: 108C Akan & Yoruba

Did You Know?

This pendant may be an idealized portrait that the person who wore it knew.

Description

These pendants were cast in gold using the lost-wax method. Gold objects are the only Baule art forms associated with ancestor spirits. Usually hidden in pots or suitcases, gold adornments are displayed on important occasions such as funerals. They are laid out around the corpse before burial. A widow will wear them on a chain around her neck or attached to her hair at the ceremony signaling the end of mourning.
  • Adolphe Stoclet, Brussels, Belgium
    ?–1942
    (Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1942–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Milliken, William. "Exhibition of Gold." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 9 (November 1947): 211-212. Mentioned: p. 211-212; Reproduced: p. 235 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=Pendant: Face in Diamond|url=false|author=|year=1900s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.171