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
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
![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"]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ytdy3uiqlmtjkxde5245mhrc/bafkreie6pbi3sociaqrisgcnm7xbd3gaggj2c5oc75shhxesgqxb2vqsvu)
![As pillows, headrests served to protect the elaborate coiffures highly fashionable until the early to mid- 20th century, and their use also enhanced contact with the ancestral realm through dreams. Their remains in Great Zimbabwe, other ancient ruins, and abandoned 12th-century burial caves attest to the region’s longstanding tradition of producing and using headrests. [Constantine Petridis Cleveland Museum of Art, (4/16/11-2/26/12); "The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southeast Africa"]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ytdy3uiqlmtjkxde5245mhrc/bafkreigqjtrexrtd3oivdlfu5hhrd7tgr2zvdhqjhelfzvla5ez46elywa)
