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CMA: African Art

@cmaafrican.bsky.social

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Sharing public domain works from the African Art department of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 38m

Male Figure (Ofika) clevelandart.org/art/2016.33

Figures such as this, known as <em>ofika, </em>were central to the initiation practices and the enforcement of laws among the all-male Lilwa association, a hierarchical organization that served educational, judicial, political, economic, and ritual functions among the Mbole. Meant to instill a moral code and to act as a cautionary symbol during initiation for Lilwa novices, ofika figures are believed to represent criminals who were ritually hanged for transgressions against Lilwa laws. The figure’s encrusted surface imitates how members covered their bodies with a substance made of ashes and palm oil during burial rites.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 18h

Neck Ornament clevelandart.org/art/2010.207

Typically such an ornament was worn by a woman in conjunction with other beadwork in complementary color schemes. In addition to making her own beadwork, however, a woman would also produce her husband’s beadwork and, before marriage, the beadwork worn by the young man courting her. Before the introduction of glass beads by European traders, southern African communities acquired beads of Indian manufacture from Arab traders.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 21h

Pipe clevelandart.org/art/2010.199

Pipe

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Equestrian Figure clevelandart.org/art/2007.160

This figure of a horse and rider is related to the Ogboni society, whose responsibilities include the burial of titleholders and leaders and the judgment and punishment of criminals. A counterweight to the authority of the king, it is also responsible for the selection, installation, and removal of rulers. Probably once forming a pair with a female figure, the equestrian symbolized the king’s male ancestors.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Female Figure clevelandart.org/art/1996.266

Female Figure

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Soul Disk Pendant clevelandart.org/art/1944.290

Shared by different Akan and Akan-related peoples, including the Asante and Baule, gold ornaments indicate status and wealth and are worn at public festivals by titleholders, chiefs, and kings. Most pectoral disks are suspended over the chest by a white, pineapple-fiber cord. They are owned by the okra, a young official who purifies the chief’s soul--hence, the name akrafokonmu, meaning "soul-washer’s badges" or "soul disks."

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Comb clevelandart.org/art/1915.453

Chokwe women inserted finely decorated combs and pins in their hair to signal rank and wealth. Here, as among neighboring peoples, coiffures reveal regional and temporal fashions and trends. Certain styles are exclusive to chiefs and other dignitaries. In addition to being a sign of beauty and good health, a well-groomed hairdo also suggests that the wearer relies on the help of others in its creation.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Clapper clevelandart.org/art/1938.5

This clapper was played by striking the beak of the bird with a metal rod. It is used in a ritual called ugie oro, which commemorates an early 16th-century military victory of King Esigie. This festival illustrates the divine power of the Benin king to protect the kingdom and its inhabitants against natural and supernatural forces. The bird has been identified as a vulture, ibis, hornbill, eagle, or kingfisher.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Pair of Figures clevelandart.org/art/2010.460

The Ubangi region's history of successive migrations and assimilations has resulted in numerous exchanges of religious beliefs and ritual practices. Because little research has been conducted in the region, data regarding the production, use, and meaning of Ubangi sculpture are scant. Despite some stylistic traits, including the heart-shaped faces and the male's crested coiffure, this figure pair is unlike any other in the Ubangian corpus. Based on indirect evidence, the pair has been attributed to the little-known Monzombo and is said to represent the culture's primordial couple. However, no other sculptures have been ascribed to the Monzombo, and we lack further details on their art.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hair Ornament clevelandart.org/art/1915.500

Hair Ornament

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Bracelet clevelandart.org/art/1916.538

This ivory bracelet is simple, yet elegant. Note how the delicate wire repair by a Kuba artisan adds a counterpoint pattern to the original design.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Bow Stand clevelandart.org/art/2018.27

Bow Stand

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Pipe Bowl clevelandart.org/art/2012.42

Pipe Bowl

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Figure Pair clevelandart.org/art/1996.402

Castings in brass or bronze depicting a female and male joined by a chain are one of the primary symbols of membership in the powerful Oshugbo/Ogboni society. This council of male and female elders selected rulers and decided all important judicial matters among the Yoruba. The paired figures symbolically refer to the society's membership and their communal decisions, as well as all women and men of the community, and the original founding couple.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Female Figure clevelandart.org/art/1972.343

An artistic melting pot, the Bondoukou region in northeastern Ivory Coast near the border with Ghana, is inhabited by several ethnic groups whose cultures often intermingle. This figure's rounded shapes and delicate surface decoration--which seem to imitate body scarifications--closely resemble the style of Baule carvings. The figure's meaning and function remain a mystery.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Divination Implement clevelandart.org/art/2010.455

Used in an intimate setting, this device helped contact an ancestral spirit who clarified misfortunes. Rather than relying on trance, the diviner awakened the ancestor by anointing the surface of the wooden figure, a rectangular frame surmounted by a female head, with pungent basil leaves. Sitting on a textured woven mat, the diviner held one side of the instrument while his client held the other. The diviner then posed questions to the ancestor who responded through movement: a movement back and forth indicated a negative response; a circular motion signaled affirmation. Revealing a lifetime of use and loving care, this divination device shows a heavily eroded base resulting from friction with the mat.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Corpus (Crucified Christ) clevelandart.org/art/2010.445

The Kingdom of Kongo was founded in the 1300s and rapidly consolidated into a centralized state. Shortly after the arrival of the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cam in 1483, and the Catholic missionaries traveling with him, the Kongo king was baptized as João I, and Christianity became the state religion. Commercial and diplomatic relationships may have been solidified between the Kongo kingdom and the Portuguese, but civil war, the Atlantic slave trade, and Christian proselytism would cause serious disruption and turmoil in Kongo society during the ensuing centuries. Testifying to the interaction between Central African religion and Catholicism, Kongo crucifixes were created as new spiritual tools to help explain and alleviate the turbulent situation.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Eshu Dance Staff clevelandart.org/art/2018.34

Eshu Dance Staff

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Scepter clevelandart.org/art/2010.447

Used by male chiefs, ivory scepters were both symbols of status that indicated worldly authority and religious emblems that suggested supernatural influence. In Yombe society until the early 1900s, the aggressive side of a chief’s authority was dramatized in spectacular public executions. These scepters depict a chief enthroned on the bound body of a criminal destined for such a death. The use of ivory implies that the chief has the fatal power of an elephant. His hairstyle most likely derives from that worn by Portuguese sailors, and he chews a bitter root locally known as <em>munkwisa,</em> administered to persons suspected of witchcraft. A package of various medicines mixed with a resinous material would have been enclosed within the container extending from the figure’s head. Thus charged with potent ingredients, the scepters endowed their owners with specific supernatural powers.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Snuff Container clevelandart.org/art/2010.202

Snuff Container

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Figure clevelandart.org/art/1976.29

The most varied group of soapstone figures and heads has been found in the homelands of the Kissi. Calling them pomda ("images of the dead"), the Kissi placed them in ancestral shrines, offering them the last seeds at sowing times and the first fruits of the harvest. However, the sculptures are believed to have been made centuries ago by the ancestors of the Kissi, the so-called Sapi people.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Female Bowl-Bearing Figure clevelandart.org/art/2010.454

Filled with white chalk—a symbol of the moon, purity, renewal, and the spirit world—this bowl-bearing figure functioned as an oracle for a royal diviner who used it to reveal the origin of problems brought to his attention. The diviner would dispense to his patient a mixture of medicinal substances and chalk from the bowl. The female figure was typically identified as the wife of the diviner's possessing spirit, thus expressing the belief that women were the most powerful spirit containers in both life and art. In fact, the diviner's actual wife often acted as an intermediary in the consultation. The sculpture also served to protect and heal the village as a whole. Luba bowls bridge the visible and invisible realms enabling insight for the diviner.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Whistle clevelandart.org/art/1915.444

Carved out of ivory or wood in a variety of shapes, Chokwe whistles often bear miniature, stylized renderings of masks. Cikunza, the "patron saint" of the boys' initiation into manhood, is depicted with a pointed extension imitating the horn of a road antelope, symbolizing the fertility spirit. Typically such whistles were used by men during the hunt to communicate with their co-hunters and to call their dogs. They were either worn attached to a string as a necklace or tied to a spear.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Woman's Skirt clevelandart.org/art/2013.5

This female skirt or hip wrapper is the most extravagant textile of the Mbuun people of the Kwilu-Kwango River Basin. Its overall tan surface is from raffia fiber. It also features elegant geometric surface decoration called <em>lobubasa</em>: the diamond-shaped patterns embroidered on the upper and lower part of the textile with dyed fiber and through the center where the panels that form the textile converge. As a prestige cloth it most likely was only worn on special occasions such as burials or for ceremonial functions. Although it is a women's cloth, it is woven by men, a norm shared by neighboring cultures such as the Kuba and the Kongo, which have similarly rich textile traditions.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Mother-and-Child Figure clevelandart.org/art/1961.198

The name Senufo covers a complex network of more than 30 different language and dialect groups. The male Poro society and its female counterpart, Tyekpa, constitute the main contexts for art production and use. Among the Fodonon Senufo subgroup, mother-and-child figures play a role in funerary ceremonies organized by the Tyekpa association in which they are carried on the participating women’s heads. However, among the Central Senufo, similar female figures are used as stationary display sculpture for the male Poro society. In the context of the Poro and its female counterpart, mother-and-child figures probably refer to "Ancient Mother," the central deity of the Poro initiation cycle. She is responsible for the protection and instruction of the initiates, her "children," nursing them with the milk of knowledge and thus transforming them into perfect human beings.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Mother-and-Child Figure clevelandart.org/art/1931.426

Wearing an elaborate lobed headdress and a beaded waistbelt, and having filed teeth and red-powdered skin, this maternity figure seems to have once carried an ax and a cup, wooden imitations of the two most important chiefly attributes. Perhaps together with a male counterpart, it was secretly kept inside the ritual house, serving as a guardian of the chief’s treasure. Its style places it in the westernmost corner of Pendeland, between the Lutshima and Kwilu rivers.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Baton clevelandart.org/art/1992.1046

Baton

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Leopard Caryatid Stool clevelandart.org/art/2006.138

Bead-covered wooden stools and thrones are one of the most prevalent art forms among the various kingdoms and chiefdoms in the Cameroon grasslands. This example, once part of the royal treasury, belongs in the category of "travel stools," usually used in conjunction with more private, minor ceremonies and rituals at the palace. The leopard imagery confirms the object’s royal status. It alludes to the belief that the king was able to temporarily transform himself into this feared predator.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Plaque clevelandart.org/art/1999.1

Hundreds of brass plaques with figures in high relief once covered the wooden pillars of the palace courtyard. It cannot be confirmed whether the depicted scenes reflect rituals or ceremonies, or tell stories about historical events. Imported as a result of overseas trade with Europe, brass was the ultimate sign of wealth and the exclusive property of the king.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Pair of Figure Staffs (Edan Ogboni) clevelandart.org/art/1996.403

The chain connecting these two figures allows them to be worn in public by a member of the Ogboni or Oshugbo association as authority emblems. The male on the right gives the association’s typical salute by clasping his left fist on the right one, while the female on the left holds her breasts as a sign of welcome and generosity. The use of copper alloy and iron expresses Ogboni/Oshugbo’s concerns with longevity and durability.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Jewelry clevelandart.org/art/1935.312

Shared by different Akan and Akan-related peoples, including the Asante and Baule, gold ornaments indicate status and wealth and are worn at public festivals by titleholders, chiefs, and kings. Most pectoral disks are suspended over the chest by a white, pineapple-fiber cord. They are owned by the okra, a young official who purifies the chief’s soul--hence, the name akrafokonmu, meaning "soul-washer’s badges" or "soul disks."

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Jewelry clevelandart.org/art/1935.311

Shared by different Akan and Akan-related peoples, including the Asante and Baule, gold ornaments indicate status and wealth and are worn at public festivals by titleholders, chiefs, and kings. Most pectoral disks are suspended over the chest by a white, pineapple-fiber cord. They are owned by the okra, a young official who purifies the chief’s soul--hence, the name akrafokonmu, meaning "soul-washer’s badges" or "soul disks."

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Gold Weight: Geometric clevelandart.org/art/1962.244

The wealth and power of the Asante kingdom was derived primarily from its massive gold resources. Since at least 1600, small weights in brass and bronze were used to weight gold dust and nuggets. The royal court had the most elaborate store of weights, while commoners often had about a dozen. Their imagery falls into two broad cateogries: geometric and representational. The latter often refers to proverbs, which used judiciously, marked a wise person.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Mortar clevelandart.org/art/1978.28

Tobacco, introduced into Africa in the 16th century, became the prerogative of leaders. As patrons of the arts, Chokwe chiefs commissioned elaborate pipes and mortars as part of their court regalia for display during public gatherings.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Snuff Container clevelandart.org/art/2010.201

Snuff Container

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Male Figure clevelandart.org/art/2008.59

Male Figure

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Helmet clevelandart.org/art/1969.5

This type of helmet used by the Oro association, is often mistaken for the more common Egungun. While Egungun masquerades are performed to honor an individual's ancestors, Oro masquerades are performed in conjunction with the actual funeral of a Yoruba person. The Oro association is very secretive, and the visibility of helmets like this one is generally restricted. Oro is also responsible for carrying out criminal sentences, such as collecting fines, repossessing goods, and executing those convicted of a capital crime. The female figure suspended from the back of the horns may reference the victims of Oro executions. This work has been attributed to the Esubiyi School of Abeokuta, founded about 1860.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Snuff Spoon clevelandart.org/art/2010.234

Often, snuff spoons made from the rib of an ox or cow were subtly carved to suggest a female body. Decorated with incised designs blackened with cattle fat and ash, many are true hybrid objects, combining a spoon with a long-tined comb or hairpin. Such spoons were typically worn as ornaments in the hair or even the beard, thus signaling the social standing of their wearer. [Constantine Petridis Cleveland Museum of Art, (4/16/11-2/26/12); "The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southeast Africa"]

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Whistle clevelandart.org/art/1915.443

Carved out of ivory or wood in a variety of shapes, Chokwe whistles often bear miniature, stylized renderings of masks. Cikunza, the "patron saint" of the boys' initiation into manhood, is depicted with a pointed extension imitating the horn of a road antelope, symbolizing the fertility spirit. Typically such whistles were used by men during the hunt to communicate with their co-hunters and to call their dogs. They were either worn attached to a string as a necklace or tied to a spear.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Figure of a Pair clevelandart.org/art/2010.460.2

The Ubangi region's history of successive migrations and assimilations has resulted in numerous exchanges of religious beliefs and ritual practices. Because little research has been conducted in the region, data regarding the production, use, and meaning of Ubangi sculpture are scant. Despite some stylistic traits, including the heart-shaped faces and the male's crested coiffure, this figure with its female pair is unlike any other in the Ubangian corpus. Based on indirect evidence, the pair has been attributed to the little-known Monzombo and is said to represent the culture's primordial couple. However, no other sculptures have been ascribed to the Monzombo, and we lack further details on their art.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Patten-type Shoe clevelandart.org/art/1929.566.2

Patten-type Shoe

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Male Figure clevelandart.org/art/2010.433

Its size, facial features, feather headdress (as worn by a local <em>nganga</em> or ritual specialist), and hangings of cloth seem to indicate that this <em>nkisi</em> figure in Vili style belongs to a type called <em>nduda</em>. While the hangings incorporate the typical shells, trade beads, knotted cloth strips, and small horns filled with medicine, they do not include the central symbol of the classic nduda: "night guns," or small grass tubes extending from clay or resin and loaded with gunpowder that was discharged against witches. Unless its night guns were lost during the course of its life history, this nkisi may instead be an example of a more general type called<em> mpanzu</em>, whose functions included protection and self-defense.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thumb Piano clevelandart.org/art/1915.495

The thumb piano portrays a wonderfully animated man riding a curious quadruped. His hat suggests he is probably a trader.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Figure clevelandart.org/art/1974.201

Biteki is the generic name for Yaka figures used as containers for magical ingredients. After being charged by a ritual specialist, they become minkisi, or power objects, and gain the power to either cure or harm. This example, with various leadership accoutrements, likely belongs to the category called phuungu. Placed inside a house, the statuette would have protected against witches and other evil.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Figurine clevelandart.org/art/2010.441

The Delenne’s stumbled upon this group of seven anthropomorphic figurines (2010.437–43) in an antiques shop in Nice during a holiday in the south of France in 1961. The carvings carry paperboard labels with inscriptions in French that indicate their ethnic and geographic provenance as well as some other details. Stemming from the Kongo region in West Central Africa, these seven sculptures feature a variety of gestures and poses, the use of mirror or glass for the eyes, and a red-white-black color scheme. They belong to the broad category of <em>minkisi</em> (singular <em>nkisi</em>), containers for medicines in which an ancestral spirit was believed to reside. Two of the group are minkisi of the <em>nduda</em> type, characterized by the attached "guns" loaded with gunpowder and used to shoot witches.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Hat clevelandart.org/art/1997.180

Among the Kongo peoples of west-central Africa, traditional village chiefs and rulers hold authority over political, judicial and economic spheres. They are also ritual leaders, expected to intercede with spirits and ancestors to maintain the well-being of the community. The chief's power is manifested through a variety of powerful implements, including fly whisks, execution swords, and ivory scepters. Among the most important symbols of a chief's authority is the cap. Power is transferred to the new chief along with the cap of his predecessor. In fact, the village leader's title means "Chief of the Cap." Crafted with a complex combination of looping and knotting, this cap formed part of a high-ranking chief's regalia, as indicated by its height and elaborate patterning. The presence of leopard claws on the crown confirms the high status of its owner, for the leopard is considered to be the ruler of the animal realm.

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CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Figure Pair clevelandart.org/art/1971.297.1

Baule figures carved as pairs usually represent untamed spirits of the wilderness called <em>asye usu.</em> These spirits may intervene in the lives of individuals by taking possession of them. If this possession does not result in madness, it can lead to the human host’s becoming a diviner who can enter into a trance to reveal the causes of ailments and other misfortunes. People who feel their lives are being interrupted by the asye usu commission carvings representing idealized male and female forms whose grace and beauty in both anatomy and adornment will seduce the spirits and compel them to use the sculptures as their temporary homes.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Head clevelandart.org/art/1995.21

Although probably a fragment of a nearly life-size male seated figure, this head is remarkably well preserved. The Nok terracottas may have been part of a shrine or temple or were placed on a tomb. The identities of the portrayed figures remain unknown, but the adornments and elaborate hairstyles and headdresses seem to indicate that they represent notables or leaders.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Female Figure clevelandart.org/art/2010.452

Songye figures were used as devices for protection, healing, or therapy. The value of such objects resided in magical substances most commonly concealed in the abdominal cavity or in a horn set into the skull. The mixture of ingredients was meant to solicit the powers of the spirit world. Both the sculpture's height and its gender suggest that it was owned and used by an individual, possibly even a woman. Although some have attributed its particular style—characterized by geometric volumes and an almost Cubist appearance—to a subgroup living along the Sankuru River, the regional attribution of any figure on stylistic grounds is always tentative given the itinerant nature of artists.

CMA: African Art @cmaafrican.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Side-Blown Trumpet clevelandart.org/art/1998.93

Side-Blown Trumpet