Dance vestment

Museum number:
5-15425
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21050015425
Alternate number:
B-1316 (previous number (Bascom’s number))
Accession number:
Acc.4471
Description:
dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.
Donor:
Berta Bascom
Collection place:
Nigeria
Verbatim coll. place:
Nigeria, Yoruba; Procured from Baba Kaba
Culture or time period:
Yoruba
Maker or artist:
Baba Kaba
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection date:
1971
Materials:
Leather and Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies
Context of use:
ceremonial vestment worn over left shoulder by worshippers of Eshu when dancing at the annual festival. Bascom paid $150.00 for it.
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
max— height 33 centimeters, strands, smallest— length 28 centimeters, and strands, max.— length 48 centimeters
Comment:
Compare: Galerie Khepri, Amsterdam; Cat. “Bron” 1968, #7, “Girdle, Eshu-priest, Nigeria, Yoruba. $?, N. A. See African Arts, Vol 9:1, 1975: 21, 22 . PAHMA Storage Loc: W-18-9
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 2 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 3 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 4 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 5 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 6 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 7 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 8 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 9 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 10 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 11 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 12 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Hearst Museum object 13 of 13 titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Dance vestment, accession number 5-15425, described as dance vestment; 4 standing anthropomorphic figures, tied together w/ cowry strings; ea. fig. on cylindrical self base; figures are alternately male & female; fem. figures are grasping their breasts, male figures holding swords and fly whisks; horiz. incisions on fem. hair-dos; dark colored wood; below neck front of figures covered w/ cowries; 13 pendant strands of cowries (incl. a broken snail shell) attached to lower part of figures. H. of figures: 31-33 cm. L. of strands 28-48 cm.

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