Vessel: Four Men Carrying a Bowl
Artist: Bidyogo Peoples (Bissau-Guinean)
Date: about 1890-1920
Dimensions:
H. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm): W. 28 in. (71.1 cm)
Medium: Wood
Place of Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by friends of the Committee for Cultural Diversity: Dr. and Mrs. Bunk Adams, Mrs. Jimmie Bradley, Mrs. Ernestine Butler, Mr. and Mrs. David Carter, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Faulkner, Mrs. Mary Glover and Ms. Karen Glover, Ms. Paula Mayes, Mrs. Marianne Payne, Mr. and Mrs. Tyronne Robertson, Dr. and Mrs. Charles E. Rowan, Nadine Smith, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Sommerville, Lillian Spaulding, Dr. Ardenia Terry, Mr. Clarence Terry, Jr., and the Toledo Chapter of Links; the Ian Williamson Memorial Fund; Jonathan Orser; the Elgin C. Brooks Memorial Fund; family and friends in memory of Malcolm Page Crowther; and funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 2002.16
Label Text:First described in the West by a Portuguese explorer in 1456, the Bidyogo people of the Bissagos Islands retain traditional beliefs, independent of the dominant Muslim culture of the Guinea-Bissau mainland. Sculpted from a single chunk of wood, this vessel reflects a festival celebrated by young men called cabaros, who carry huge cauldrons of pork and rice in procession. The men wear braided hair, jewelry, and pouches on shoulder straps. The crocodile on the lid may reflect the festival or guard the contents of the bowl.
DescriptionThe vessel is in the shape of a bowl carried on poles supported on the shoulders of four men, who stand on a rectangular base open in the center, all carved from a single piece of wood. The eyes are inlaid with metal tacks. Some of the areas of the surface have been incised or stained. The convex lid is surmounted by a crocodile.
The vessel is in the shape of a bowl carried on poles supported on the shoulders of four men, who stand on a rectangular base open in the center, all carved from a single piece of wood. The eyes are inlaid with metal tacks. Some of the areas of the surface have been incised or stained. The convex lid is surmounted by a crocodile.
The vessel is in the shape of a bowl carried on poles supported on the shoulders of four men, who stand on a rectangular base open in the center, all carved from a single piece of wood. The eyes are inlaid with metal tacks. Some of the areas of the surface have been incised or stained. The convex lid is surmounted by a crocodile.
Not on view
In Collection(s)