Cleveland Museum of Art
Head
- Date
- 1650–1700
- Medium
- terracotta
- Culture
- Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Akan-style artist
- Department
- African Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Akan sculptures made head forms as idealized portraits of the deceased. Made of terracotta, a low-termperature fired ceramic, this head features simple shapes of triangles, curves, and lozenges to represent the nose, mouth, and eyes. The style of this terracotta memorial head allows us to date it, and locate its likely place of manufacture. Scholars believe that this small, hollow-backed style sculpture is from the Ahinsan funerary site and was made between 1650 and 1700. The projection below the neck would allow this head to function as a stopper for a vessel or as a way to affix it to the body of a statue.
The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
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