TERA Gallery - African Art and Antiquities

"Altering The Way You View The World Of Art"
Type of Object:
    Dan Ceremonial Spoons

    Spoons are regarded not only as utilitarian objects but as
    symbols of treasured social values:  giving, sharing,
    nourishing, and accomplishing domestic duties with grace
    and skill.  These extra-large and elaborately carved spoons,
    wunkirmian,  are presented to the village woman most
    admired for her cooking and hospitality.  Antique Dan
    spoons of this sort can be quite expensive indeed, they
    often are purchased by museums or high-end collectors.

    Always carved by men, these spoons most frequently take
    the form of a woman's body, the swelling bowl symbolizing
    the life-giving womb (and maybe a filled-up stomach), the
    strong legs indicating the woman's centrality in the family
    structure.  Other wunkirmian designs include beautiful
    female faces or animal heads surmounting the handle.  
    Handles often end in human heads or figures, small public
    versions of the larger carvings and masks reserved for ritual
    occasions.  Alternatively, handles may be zoomorphic,
    topped by a animal's head or a perching bird.  Most
    frequently the shafts and bowls are unadorned, apart from
    the marvelous patina the wood has acquired over years of
    use.  Sometimes, however, these parts of the spoon are
    embellished with carved or incised designs.

Ethnic Group:
    Dan Society


Country of Origin:  
    Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire

Material:   
    Wood

Dimensions:
    19 inches


Reference:                  
Marc Ginzberg, African Form

Lindsay Hooper,  "Domestic Arts -- Carved Wooden

Philip L. Ravenhill, The Art of the Personal Object

Ernest Winizki, African Spoons