Gbekre, Mouse Oracle or Mouse Divination Vessel

2009.05.0004A

Thumbnail of Gbekre, Mouse Oracle or Mouse Divination Vessel (2009.05.0004A)

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Basic Information

Artifact Identification Gbekre, Mouse Oracle or Mouse Divination Vessel   (2009.05.0004A)
Classification/
Nomenclature
  1. Communication Artifacts
  2. :
  3. Ceremonial Artifacts
  4. :
  5. Religious Objects
Artist/Maker Unknown
Geographic Location
Period N/A
Date 1950 - 2004
Culture Baule

Physical Analysis

Dimension 1 (Height) 15.6 cm
Dimension 2 (Diameter) 15.5 cm
Dimension 3 (Diameter) 11 cm
Weight 792 g
Measuring Remarks Under Review
Materials Plant--Wood, Varnish, Pigment--Dye
Manufacturing Processes Carved, Dyeing, Lacquering, Incising

Research Remarks

Description

"Mouse divination session. Onogobo, Aitu Region, 1994. The diviner, Bela Kouassi, has just removed the tortoise-shell tray from the vessel and is interpreting the way the mouse has rearranged the batons attached to it."

Vogel, Susan. Baule: African Art/Western Eyes. New Haven: Yale Art Gallery, 1997. p. 270.

Cheri Vitez, Assistant Registrar, 8/5/2010

Published Description Under Review
Bibliography

Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions, Stephen D. Glazier, Editor. New York: Routledge, 2001.
p. 121.

Himmelheber, Hans and Martin Lippmann, Eberhard Fischer, and Clara Mayer-Himmelheber,
Die Kultur der Baule: Fotodokumentation an der Elfenbeinkuste. Zurich: Museum Rietberg, 1997.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art and Oracle: A Scholarly Resource of African and Rituals of Divination, retrieved 8/4/2010 from http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/oracle/figures17.html p. 1-4.

Pemberton, John. The Artist’s Eye, the Diviner’s Insight: African Art in the Barry D. Maurer Collection. Amherst: Mead Art Museum, 1998.

Vogel, Susan. Baule: African Art/Western Eyes. New Haven: Yale Art Gallery, 1997. p. 268-271.

Vogel, Susan and Francine N’ Diaye. African Masterpieces from the Musee de l’Homme New York: Center for African Art and Henry Abrams, 1985. p. 136.

Werness, Hope. The Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art: Worldview, Symbolism, and Culture in Africa, Oceania, and Native North America. New York: Continuum, 2000, p.81.

Cheri Vitez, Assistant Registrar, 8/5/2010

Guenneguez, Andre and Afo. Art de la Cote d’Ivoire et de Ses Voisins. Paris: L’Harmattan, n.d. P. 164.

Artifact History

Credit Line/Dedication Kieffer-Lopez Collection
Reproduction No

Contact

All information about our collection is constantly reviewed and updated. Please contact Dery Martínez-Bonilla, Registrar, if there is any information you are looking for that isn't currently online.

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