The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 21, 2025
Carving
c. 1900
Overall: 17.8 cm (7 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Charles E. Roseman 1969.138
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
The spiral composition of this artwork has been used on carved ivories in the Kingdom of Kongo since the 1500s.Description
Carved elephant ivory tusks and hippopotamus tooth ivory—whether large, or small, like this example—were sought-after souvenirs for Europeans who visited, lived, or worked on the coast of Central Africa. Vili carvers had been sculpting ivory for centuries. In the age of European commerce and colonialism, they created carefully observed tusks with representations of everyday life for European clients. While commissions, they also reflected what the artists chose to represent about their own societies, and sometimes about Europeans. In this small tusk, we see Congolese individuals wearing various clothing, from local-style waist wrappers to European brimmed hats.- ?–1969Mrs. Charles E. Roseman1969–The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift
- Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
- {{cite web|title=Carving|url=false|author=|year=c. 1900|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.138