Beautiful large Dan spoon from Ivory Coast. It`s a ceremonial instrument of those women who have a particular social position in Dan society. Its name is wakemia and it’s used during special festivities, as a symbol of distinction and virtue of the most capable women. The social value of the object explains the remarkable artistic quality. The spoons are known by many names, including wake mia or wunkirmian, which roughly translates as “spoon associated with feasts.” The spoons range in size from a foot to two feet and have one or (rarely) two parallel bowls. The handle of the spoon is always decorated and often is related to the human s like this example with women breasts.
(Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art) Large spoon, total length: 67 cm!
Provenance: Manfred Schafer, former gallery owner from Ulm, Germany. Stand is included in this lot!
Object: |
Tribal Spoon |
Ethnic group: |
Dan |
Country: |
Ivory Coast |
Material: |
Wood |
Period: |
Mid 20th century |
Sold with stand: |
Yes |
Dimensions: |
67x10x8 cm |
Weight: |
900 gram |
Condition: |
Good condition, used with some signs of wear |
Object: Tribal spoon
Ethnic group/ culture: Dan
Region/ country: Ivory Coast
Material: Wood
Period: Mid 20th century
Condition: Good
Sold with stand: No
Dimensions: 80×20×10 cm
Weight: 1700 g