Artwork Details
Culture
Creation Date
Materials
Object Types
Dimensions
42 x 39 in.
Accession Number
Credit Line
Mrs. Pierre F. Goodrich Endowed Art Fund
Copyright
Collection
Color Palette
Provenance
(Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago); purchased by William Itter, Bloomington, IN, in 2000; purchased by the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2012.
Gallery Labels
Thousands of small round tufts of human hair are individually stitched to embellish the cotton ground cloth of this gown. The tufts were made from men’s hair collected from members of a secret society. This bestows magical powers on the tunic and represents strength, leadership, and male authority. The garment is worn with a mask to disguise the wearer’s identity during funerary or ritual ceremonies commemorating deceased kings of secret societies in Cameroon.
The arrangement of the human hair tuffs appears to mimic leopard spots. One of the fiercest animals, the leopard is considered to embody strength and power.
Exhibition History
Exhibition Name
Venue
Dates
More from the Collection
Content Disclaimer and Usage Rights
Metadata about the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection comes from Newfields’ records and research. In some cases, information may be incomplete and research is ongoing. Newfields’ goal is to have as up-to-date metadata as possible, therefore, this information is subject to change. Newfields collections’ metadata is available under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) waiver, which allows for re-use without legal restrictions.
Artworks that appear in the image file(s) above may be in copyright or have other legal and/or cultural restrictions to their use. For clarity, Newfields does not claim copyright to the image files created by Newfields of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Newfields makes every effort to ascertain the copyright status of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Please refer to the RightsStatements.org statement above for information about the current copyright status of the artwork. Additionally, some artworks may include Local Context’s Notices or Labels that attribute cultural authority of the artwork’s heritage and data.
Additional information about Newfields’ reproduction guidelines can be found in the Licensing Resources.
4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA 46208-3326 | 317-923-1331
Copyright © 2024 Newfields. All rights reserved.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MA-251861-OMS-22].