The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 26, 2024

Shrine Figure (Ikenga)

Shrine Figure (Ikenga)

possibly early 1900s
Wood, organic materials, and raffia
Overall: 74.5 x 18 x 20 cm (29 5/16 x 7 1/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2015.72
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This figure associated with achievement and success would have received prayers and sacrifices in return for the guidance of ancestors.

Description

This seated figure of a man holding a cutlass and an inverted human skull is a cult object called ikenga, associated with achievement and success. Standing at the center of a man’s personal shrine, the sculpture receives prayers and sacrifices in return for the ancestors’ guidance. An elaborate headdress comprising two horn-like extensions reinforces the cult’s preoccupation with masculinity, while facial incisions known as ichi refer to membership in one of many male associations.
  • 1968, 1969, or 1970-2001
    Jacques Kerchache, Paris, France (probably by field-collection in Nigeria (Biafra), at the end of the Nigerian Civil War, in 1968 or 1969)
    2001-2010
    Anne Kerchache, Paris, France by inheritance
    2010
    (Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, France, “Collection Anne et Jacques Kerchache” Lot 132 - sold June 13, 2010)
    2010-2016
    Steven Morris, New York/Michigan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2016-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 81
    Cole, Herbert M. Igbo. Milan : 5 Continents Editions, 2013. Mentioned: p. 24, p. 26; reproduced: p. 131, pl. 9
    Rondeau, James, Constantijn Petridis, Yaëlle Biro, Herbert M. Cole, Kassim Kone, Babatunde Lawal, Wilfried Van Damme, and Susan Mullin Vogel. The language of beauty in African art. 2022.
    "The Language of Beauty in African Art." Kimbell Art Museum Members' Guide (March–September 2022): 2-7. Reproduced: P. 5
  • The Language of Beauty in African Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (April 3-July 31, 2022) https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/language-beauty-african-art; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (November 20, 2022-February 27, 2023) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9344/the-language-of-beauty-in-african-art.
    Kunsthaus Zurich, 1970-71: Elsy Leuzinger, "Die Kunst von Schwarz-Afrika"
  • {{cite web|title=Shrine Figure (Ikenga)|url=false|author=|year=possibly early 1900s|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.72