Browse Items (49 total)

This figure represents "Mami Wata," the pidgin English term for "Mother of Water," a water spirit who has enjoyed a wide following in Central Africa, West Africa, and regions of the African Diaspora. It was carved by an Ibibio artist living in…

Bocio are power objects (bo) that represent deceased human beings (chio). A bocio is not a spirit, but a kind of decoy meant to trick death by acting as a substitute for a real person. Formerly, the Fon people of Dahomey (now Benin) placed bocio…

Suite 19/20 Chili Dogs, Chicks and Monster Trucks T. Huck 2000

Suite 19/20 High Water Hog Blues T. Huck 2000

MC (at rear)

In the Cross River Region of Nigeria, the rivalry between masking associations gave artists incentives to generate new art forms and styles. Each association lavished great expense on masquerade paraphernalia in a bid to display the most impressive…

The monumental size and extremely lifelike quality of this portrait of Coornhert (1522-1590), the master who taught Goltzius the art of engraving, are rivaled in this period only by the portrait of Goltzius engraved by his pupil Jan Muller. While…

Sons battle their father and uncles in this illustration of a scene from a later version of the Ramayana. Now ruling in Ayodhya, Rama begins the Ashvamedha, a horse sacrifice to define his territory. In this ritual, a horse, followed by the king’s…

After Ravana kidnaps Sita, Rama journeys to rescue his wife. On the way, he meets Hanuman, who becomes his faithful servant. In this scene, Rama, Lakshmana, and Hanuman rest in the forest on a leaf mat in a moment of quiet devotion that contrasts…