Akan peoples, Ghana
Late 19th to early 20th century
Terracotta
21 x 30.4 x 29.4 cm (8 1/4 x 11 5/16 x 11 9/16 in.)
2005-6-164, gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (cat. no. 64)
More/Less Information
The mudfish, crescent moon and star decorations establish this vessel as one commissioned for the grave of a chief or paramount chief. The musical instruments refer to the chief's role as priest of the royal ancestral cult and have multiple meanings associated with proverbs, history and human relationships. The snakes, a Gabon viper and a boomslang, symbolize the chief as the ruler of both the forest and the savanna.
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