ClassificationsAfrican Art

Figure, Colon

Possible OriginCôte d'Ivoire, Africa

Possible OriginGhana, Africa

CultureAkan

Date20th Century

MediumWood, paint

Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett

Dimensions14 15/16 x 5 3/8 x 3 9/16 in. (38 x 13.7 x 9 cm)

Object number1994.004.788

Label TextThis figure depicts a Colon, a colonial genre showing the African in Western-style dress. The numerous examples in the African art market today originated when foreign soldiers, colonial officials, and expatriates began asking West African carvers for personal souvenirs.

In this example the carver has depicted a fashionably-dressed young African man through the delicate rendering of his belt, shirt, shoes and a parted hairstyle popular in West Africa in the 1940s. These modern references are combined with older indigenous visual markers of identity: the facial scarification and a ringed neck. The Colon refers to West Africa's colonial experience while also presenting the pan-African imagery of an emerging modern class.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Installation, May 11, 1993 - July 1994
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, Rotation 1, December 15, 1995 - February 1997
The Art of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Michael C. Carlos Museum, November 8, 1997 - January 4, 1998
MCCM Permanent Collection Installation, November 19, 2007 - December 1, 2014
Published ReferencesMCCM Newsletter, December 2007 - February 2008.

ProvenanceEx coll. William Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia.

Status

Not on view

Collections