The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Shrine Figure (misi or mishi)

Shrine Figure (misi or mishi)

late 1800s-early 1900s
Wood and cotton
Overall: 48.6 x 15.6 x 17.2 cm (19 1/8 x 6 1/8 x 6 3/4 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1969.10
Location: not on view

Description

This figure was used in an ancestral cult dedicated to the founders of small political groupings. Such figures were usually kept in the same shrine with a number of stylistically related male and female carvings that represented ancestors. At times of crisis, the custodian of the shrine spent the night in close proximity to the images, bringing offerings to the ancestors in exchange for their support.
  • 1962
    J. J. Klejman, NY
    J. J. Klejman, NY (1962); Katherine White Reswick
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 412 archive.org
    Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 32, p. 94 - 95
    Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 114, fig. 5.8
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 36
  • Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
    Circulated by International Exhibitions Foundation, 1/22/70 - 6/21/70: "African Heritage," cat. Fagg, no. 100, repr. p. 91. Traveled to Washington, Kansas City, Brooklyn).
    CMA 1970: "Year in Review 1969," CMA Bulletin LVII (Jan., 1970), p. 47, no. 131, repr. p. 40.
    CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 269, repr.
  • {{cite web|title=Shrine Figure (misi or mishi)|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s-early 1900s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.10